How's the Water - Part II

So, this evening I am going to attempt to finish the blog I started last Monday.

In part I of this blog I talked about the 3 methods of getting to know girls.

After the initial courtship the real work begins. There are a few key steps that must occur.

But, I need to backstep a bit first though. We need to look at what courtship is. Courtship is dating with a purpose! These blogs reffer to dating with the grand intention of marriage. This is no dating for recration -as many people view it. So read this all with the knowledge that this is a serious relationship that we are dealing with.

So when we talk about courtship, as men -yes men, not boys- we need to follow certain guidlines. Firstly we must have the guts to ask for the fathers permission to date his daughter. Why you ask is this important; well the parents are probably one of the most cruicual parts of the courtship. If you are seriously in love with a girl, then being upfront with the parents is crucial.

Its a good idea to talk to your future -hopefully- girlfriend, and find out about the parents. Some key points to figure out are:
- Which parent is the good cop
- What kind of things should you talk about, and what things should you not talk about
- Are the parents in favor of their daughter dating someone

If there is If she is really nice -and probably serious about it- she will also lay some really good groundwork, so that the initial meeting won't be nearly as painful or akward.

Now once you are there, in the lions den, it is time to work your magic -aka we are now jumping to the first meet. Now this can be a great time, if you click. If you click they will start treating you as one of the family -like a big brother. But while there try not to bring up the times that you were almost incarssarated [or were actually incarssarated], your ex-girlfriend, or the fact that you hate the meal [it is a possibility, and has happened to me]. But even worse than mentioning one of those is not talking at all. You are there to meet her parents, for to just be a foreign bump on the log.

Think of the first meeting to be sort of a job interview. You want it to go super smoothly, you generally don't know the results until the next day, and you have never met the people who are talking to. Just as in a job interview you trying to sell yourself so that they approve your applicatoin.

But with all of that said; be yourself. The parents are looking to see who you really are, and if you are the one who they have always wanted for their daughter. But really, if you think about it; if her parents don't like you, and don't think that you are right for their daughter, maybe they are right. They did raise her you know.

So now you have met the parents. At that I am going to leave you on a cliffhanger again.

Until next time.

-AndrewB.

How's the Water - Part I

Well I suppose it would be nice to get another blog going. It has seemed like the last week has been, well, a month! So it feels that I need to do another blog.

On saturday night, I got talking to Apryl, Matt K, and Sarah about relationships. I came up with a good analogy, and it sort of demonstartes how you can get to know girls [this is written primarally for guys as we all agreed it is the guys responsibility to start the relationship].

So we decided that getting to know girls is like going into an unknown lake. You first of all don't know how warm or cold the lake is, you don't know how deep it is, you don't know if there are animals residing in the lake getting ready to bite, and you don't know if there are rocks which will scar your feet.

So there are 3 primary approaches to the initial courtship and dating in regards to the mans actions:

1. The most uncommon and the one that should be almost banned is the cannonball. This is where -without warning- a guy walks up to a girl and just blatently asks her out. This works aproximatly one in a million times.

We all agreed that this method is just like a loose cannon. People like this generally have issues with being accepted, and feel the need for companionship.

2. Then on the other extreme there is the climatisation method. This is where the guy moves his foot in so slowly that if she is by chance ice cold, you can sometimes melt the ice and warm her up. This can be a very useful method; although it does have its downfalls. Some girls wish to move alot faster than a sleepwalking snail, more along the lines of an ant. So if the guy does not move his foot in quick enough, there is a good chance that she won't wait along forever.


3. So then there is the middle way. This is of course the best method! In doing this you show that as a guy you have a backbone, and that you are able to stand up for yourself. If you are really serious about a girl then you better swallow your guts and step up to the plate. In the end it shows what kind of a man you are. So I highly suggest this method.

I have more to say on this, but I will let it be another post, so you have something to look forward to.

-Andrew

Bread & Wine, is that all "it" is ..

Well recently it has been strongly suggested that I write blogs on a much more frequent basis, so while I was at work today I wrote this.

As some of you very well know I have been infatuated with reading lately, and more specifically books by Donald Millar.
I have just finished "Searching for God Knows What", and Millar presents an interesting view on communion. Now for me, I grew up knowing Jesus - at least in my head -, and when I was 5 years old I accepted Him into my life. Now I didn't take communion seriously until sometime in my early teens, but even then I would see it somes as just a snack to tide me over until lunch. Even when it wasn't viewed as a snack, I really didn't see what purpose it gave. That changed this past week, and it hit me this past Sunday.

I had to work during the morning services, so once I got home I started chatting with Sarah. She inquired if I was goign to go to the evening service, of course I replyed "no", as I was not wanting to go to church alone. So she was most graceious and siad she would listen to ther sermon again [thanks Sarah!], so I went.

Now I have never been to an evening service at McKernan, so it was something dreastically new. The whole service was great, but I want to focus on the comunion part of it. So, Pastor Lyle brought out the bread and the juice, and set up 4 station in the front of the church. He proceeded to tell us that when we were individually ready to come up and take the elements, and then eat then whenever you were ready. It was just so much more intamite, personal, and refreshing!

I'm sure that you are wondering when I am going to talk about Millar's book, and what it has to do with this blog. Well I am going to talk about it now, and he mentioned a view on communion that I think is totally right, and totally revolutionary! He [Millar] talks about the way he envisioned the apostles taking communion. He says that they probably all got togeather, grabed a chunk of bread, and a glass of wine. They then proceeded to talk about Jesus, the times they spent with Him, the things He said, the jokes He made [I am fully convinced Jesus made jokes!]. There would have been times when they got a bit choked up or emotional; but it wasn't always this solum or individual of an affair.
So thats that!

On a side note [this is now totally unrelated to comunion], I have been wanting to write a blog about something else that I have noticed reccently. At the beginning of September I was doing tests up in the University area [HRIF - East], and these guys were terrible! Not as in the work they were doing, but in what they were saying. Every girl that walked by, they gawked at. It was terrible! I hated listening to it! I felt horrible for those girls and women; these "men" - and I use that word very loosly - were disrespecting these women so horrendeously. So I want to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you women are treated like that, that you are just pieces of meat the these boys.

So there are a few thoughts. I hope that they hit home. God Bless!

In Christ,

Andrew. Browne.