Dating - Conclusion

<p>Good morning, Five Minute Families! Fall is in the air, and that means hot cocoa, campfires, and s’mores! Another thing in the air is love… God’s love and young love learning how to care for one another God’s way. Today, we close out this series about dating. You know, when Kim and I were younger, the conversations in church about dating were quite different. There have been trends about how young people should feel and behave that are not authentic conversations with real-life solutions. Godly parents, you must take back the narrative. Talk with your children about dating expectations. Discuss dating scenarios in the movies and TV shows you watch. Read Scripture about how to relate well with other folks.</p><p>We mistakenly told our older children when they hit dating ages not to date because that was the church movement of the time. Now, mind you, we had both dated folks when we were younger, and neither of us really knew how to guide our kiddos with the whole “not dating but still finding” a mate movement. This led to some problems… our older two boys’ first little girlfriends in middle school were kept secret from us. Of course, they only saw these young ladies at church or at our homeschool tutorial, but still, our boys felt that they could not be honest with us with what they were feeling or how to traverse this incredibly important area of life. </p><p>After our unsuccessful attempts at the “no dating, only courting” saga of the middle school years, we began again by simply having open dialogue with all of our kids about having feelings for someone else - how to protect a young lady’s heart, how to stay pure in this crazy world, and how to honor God in their relationships.</p><p>I remembered then visiting an old friend during college… her dad was running the church student group on the local college campus. While visiting with her there, I began teasing her about liking one of the guys in the Bible group. She said, “no. I mean, well, I did think I liked him, but after watching him a bit, I realized that