Since the latter part of October, I have been strangely silent on this blog without giving an explanation why. It hasn’t been for lack of news or insight, but rather a need for privacy. This is still necessary to a large extent, but I have been given the liberty and opportunity to share with you just a little bit about what’s been going on.

You see, there is this girl….

OK, I’ll wait until you stop chuckling…. Yeah, that’s enough, cut it out. The long and the short of it is that I am courting a beautiful and wonderful young lady that I have known since early this year and developed a close friendship with over the past several months. We attend a weekly Bible study and fellowship group and have participated in various ministry events on several occasions, and they have provided the opportunity for us to get to know each other better and forge a deeper relationship. I’m not ready to go into too much detail at this time, but some events transpired towards the end of October that I can only describe as divine providence which led us rather quickly and surprisingly from a place of friendly acquaintance to romantic interest. Since that time, my life has been very, very different (understatement of the year!). It never ceases to amaze me how quickly one’s perspective on life and what one most values can change, but with God at the helm of that change, it is a healthy and beautiful thing far beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

The thing that causes me to rejoice above all else is that we both love the Lord deeply and rely on the Holy Spirit for wisdom, guidance, and direction. It’s important for us to know that we are walking in God’s will and peace every step of the way. The road won’t always be easy, and it won’t always be clear, but we must remember that, as the Apostle Paul says, “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) God is for us, He knows us better than we do ourselves, and He has our best interests at heart. All we have to do is submit our mind, will, and emotions to Him, and He will be gracious to lead us forward into the glorious future He has prepared for all those who walk in His ways.

On a practical level, one question you may have is, what is courting? What does it mean, from our vantage point at least, to be in a courtship? To be honest, I think we’re still pondering that question ourselves. Probably it’s easier to define what it is NOT, and that’s largely a reflection of how much we dislike the idea of modern secular dating. I’ll have to save some thoughts for a future post.

Due to my new time and energy commitments and the fact that the spiritual subjects I’m meditating on and studying right now are more germane to my personal life than to this blog per se, I probably will be posting somewhat infrequently in the near future. I had previously intended to go in a very different direction and talk more about my future ministry plans, but Life intervened. And I’m not complaining in the slightest, mind you.

Prayers, support, advice, encouragement — all are greatly appreciated during this time. It’s especially good to hear from godly couples Who Have Been Through This Before and can lend their wisdom based on experience to aid us in our journey. Thank you first and foremost for your patience as I spend more time away from blogging.

God is AMAZING!!! Can I hear an AMEN to that?!?!