Interested Suitors

We had a question about the early stages of courtship with a scenario of:
"What does a girl do if she tells an interested guy to talk to her father and the guy is planning on doing so, but in the meantime he keeps talking to her?"
Here are our thoughts to avoid heartbreak and maintain innocence. This is just some practical advice; again we aren't necessarily the experts in 'relationships', but we do enjoy discussing it.

Response:
What should the girl do? First of all, she should talk to her dad! It is for her protection that the man should first speak to her father. She should avail herself of this protection (emotional as well as physical) and both parents' wise counsel about the situation. This, if she has not already given her heart away, should keep things from getting to a heartbreaking point.
Secondly, she probably needs to get unimpressed with the guy. At first it would be exciting that a guy was interested, but it's weird that he spoke to her first and then delayed in doing what she asked. Why is he messing with her heart while waiting to speak to her dad? That doesn't speak well of his ideas of "courtship," and it seems like he cares more for himself than for the girl he says he cares about! If she keeps her heart to herself and accepts wise counsel, she will be able to see that he may not be a great candidate to consider for a lifelong commitment.

And things that the guy could do is;
1. He needs to just go have the talk with the father, if he's ready.
2. If he has to wait, then keep conversations 'business like' to the girl.
3. If he becomes bothersome to the girl, she shouldn't hesitate to tell her father as previously mentioned.
4. She or preferably her dad could explain to the guy why they're protecting her heart and can persuade him to 'back off'. Girls can have a fair amount of influence on men, and if the man interested in her cares like he expresses, he should take 'it easy' for her sake and start practicing sacrifice, wisdom, patience, and true love.

From Step by Step, our courtship blog.  Please visit, comment, and ask your questions!

Art by Aimee

Shhh… this is actually Perry.  Yes, Aimee might tickle the daylights out of me for doing this, but I'm doing it anyway.  Lately, she has been referencing photographs for her drawings, and I'm impressed with the results.  I keep telling her she should scan in her work and blog it (since she's doing more drawing than writing), but she is shy about it.  She also doesn't like how the scanner makes the drawing look a little muddy.  So, look past the scan quality and enjoy!

Picture #1 – "Girl blowing bubbles"

Picture #2 – Girl in headband

Picture #3 – "Hay, daisies, and cowgirl thoughts"

Courtship Questions

From the beginning of our courtship, we have desired that it be a blessing and encouragement to others.  One of the ways we wanted to accomplish this was to blog about our courtship for everyone who can't observe it firsthand.  Unfortunately--and surprisingly--we have found it puzzling to know what to write, and we realize this is why we have written so few inside-look posts.  We would love for you to ask your questions about our courtship, because answering them will solve our problem of knowing what to say.  It will give us crystal-clear ideas of what would be most interesting, helpful, and encouraging to read.

 

You can direct your questions to both of us or specifically to either Tyler or Perry.  We will post our answers on our respective blogs and on Step by Step, our courtship blog.

 

So, what do you want to know??

Ever So Pink Background

Abstract Swirly Background

And if that Man You Married Goes to War…

During her bath tonight, my little sister, Emma, was making up a song.  It was along the lines of "Hush Little Baby" in which mama will buy the baby this or that.  Well, I really tuned in when she paused for a moment to think of the next line, and then sang:

 

"…mama's gonna buy you a man to marry.

And if that man you married goes to war,

Mama's gonna buy you a… [long pause] …sewing machine…"

 

!!! ;)

Croonin' Together