Forever Beloved - Faith, Love & Truth

July 14, 2015

Saving Your First Kiss

“Actually”, she said with confidence, “I’m saving my first kiss for my wedding day”. I’ve heard my daughter say this dozens of times. And while it’s been met with positivity, that doesn’t happen often. Normally, she’ll be met with laughter accompanied by a statement like “What? That’s crazy!”, “You’ll change your mind once you start dating” and she’s even heard “You’ll never get a man that way”.

I’m just going to be honest here, I didn’t save my first kiss for my wedding day. As I’ve said before, I wish I had heard that not kissing until marriage was an option. I wish I had heard that purity was beautiful. Valuable. Precious. An amazing gift given to us by God to give to our spouse. I wish purity had been a bigger topic among my circle. I wish I had been told that God’s grace is bigger than the choices we make. I wish we had been talked to instead of talked at.

I took the things I wished were different and the lessons I had learned and coupled that with God’s Word. There was also an amazing all-girl program at church called Daughters of the King, led by our Pastor’s wife. And during that time, God set it in my daughters heart to save her first kiss for her future husband on the day of their wedding.

In a day and age where kissing is the norm for elementary schoolers and losing your virginity in, or by high school is expected, it seems absurd and ridiculous that anyone would possibly save their first kiss for marriage. If you choose safe standards, you are bound to hear backlash and criticism from friends and relatives, but you have to remember that your decision is a “good thing”.

We want our kids to enjoy healthy relationships placed in the hands of God. Relationships that focus on drawing closer together emotionally and spiritually before they enjoy the physical part of their relationship that is reserved only for marriage.

While saving your first kiss for your wedding day is clearly not popular, please don’t look down on those who do. They aren’t weak, naive or inexperienced. Are we really going to fault these kids for following what God has set in their heart?

And those of you who save your kiss, please don’t look down on those who don’t. Saving your kiss doesn’t gain you salvation.

I love the story told by Jennie Bishop titled The Princess and the Kiss. The royal parents have a baby girl and give her the gift of her very first kiss. They explain to the princess that it is her gift to keep or give away as she chooses.They then go on to warn her that many man will try to take her gift, but she should be wise and save it for the man she would marry.

Instead of viewing your kiss as something meaningless and cheap, I want to challenge you to view it as a very expensive treasure box. It’s your job to keep your treasure safe until the person with the right key comes to unlock it.

Like the princess above, you will probably have some guys stop by with hopes to get a piece of your treasure. If they don’t have the key (the wedding band) don’t let them open the box.

I want you to remember, you don’t have to kiss frogs to find princes. Princes don’t need physical confirmation of a woman’s value. They already value you for who you are.

We need to recognize the kiss as an incredible gift that God has given each one of us to fully embrace and enjoy in the right context. Instead of lowering its value and blowing it off as just-a-kiss let’s view it as a precious, sacred gift.

July 13, 2015

♥ le SIGH ♥

lots of fam time.
beach.
flip flops.
sun.
water.
book reading.
sand.
sunrises.
snuggling.
sleeping in.
fishing.
tons of pics.
naps.
tan.
NO work.
swimming.
not cooking.
sunsets.
i am in love.

July 12, 2015

20 {More} Budget Friendly Date Ideas

I love going on dates with my husband, whether they are little mini-dates we catch here and there or a full day together. I love that feeling of just reconnecting with him and being able to give him my full attention without interruption. I think it’s so important to take time out of our busy lives to solely focus on each other. It keeps our marriage alive.

Romance doesn’t have to be expensive to be great! Here is a list of free or nearly free ideas to make your dating a pure pleasure:

Grab your skates and head to the roller-skating rink. What, not everyone has skates like I do? Believe me, my littles remind me every year that my skates are as old as dirt. As long as you don’t mind being the oldest people there who aren’t chaperoning their children, it’s a great way to have fun and let loose with each other.
Celebrate the first snow fall with a day of sledding together. At the end of the day, head inside for hot cocoa and a hot shower.
Jump in the car and just drive with no destination in mind. Turn the music up, sing together, hold hands and enjoy the ride. Make a love song “mix tape” to enjoy during your drive. This one is one of my favs!
Grab your camera and head out. Stop at scenic locations and start taking pictures of each other. Be goofy and creative. Dare each other to put those wacky pictures on Facebook! The loser has to give a massage!
Grab a tent, sleeping bag and head into the woods for a night of camping. Leave all the distractions behind. Spend the evening cuddling together under the stars talking for hours. If you don’t have a tent, you can get one for as cheap as $25 at Walmart. Sleeping bags can be as cheap as $10.
Dance lessons are fun and romantic. You’re moving, bodies are touching, and you might be working up a little bit of sultry sweat.
Head to an indoor or outdoor ice-skating rink — it’s the perfect excuse to hold hands!
Go shooting together, something we love to do. I mean, hello, seeing your guy handle a gun is pretty hot. Just remember, safety first!
Stay in one night, turn off the TV, shut down your computer, and ignore your phones. Stay in the moment with each other and share your favorite memories from the past.
Pray together, taking turns thanking God for each other.
Plan your dream vacation with each other — it might be the incentive you need to start putting your loose change in the piggy bank.
Have your children play waiter and waitress and serve a romantic dinner, then tell them the story of how you fell in love.
Volunteer together. I think watching my husband serve and seeing his heart is pretty amazing and makes me fall in love with him all over again.
Spend the day together in the great outdoors. Go for a hike together, enjoying a day of great conversation while getting exercise at the same time.
Go bowling and have fun laughing together! If you’re like us, that laughing will come from you accidentally stepping on the slippy lane, falling and splitting your pants. Not my most graceful moment.
Make a playlist {aka…mix tape} of your favorite slow songs. Cook your favorite meal together. Light the candles. Have a romantic dinner together! Once dinner is over, leave the dishes until the next day! Spend the rest of the evening slow dancing together!
Search out some local music!
Go House Shopping. Even if you aren’t in the market for a new house, just go browse anyway. There is just something fun about the home-browsing process.
Go for a moonlight walk. There is something very romantic about walking around at night, especially under the moonlight. Tell your spouse all the things you love about them and walk slowly.
Fill the bed of the truck up with pillows + blankets, head out in a field and hop in the back to count your lucky stars. Don’t forget to take some yummy nibbles along. Have you ever saw a shooting star? It’s super romantic and you’ll be entertained for hours trying to recognize the stars and looking for them.