Rooted in Assurance

"I'm not in love, I'm just in love with the idea of love." When I was in middle school, my dad's wife bought me this adorable sweater with the above quote on it. Laughably accurate, how many of us go through that boy crazy phase growing up? Or maybe still are in it? Sometimes it feels like there is pressure, even as a young girl, to find this soulmate. At some churches, well-meaning adults ask about that boy they saw you sit next to in church. You know how it is, you sat together so you're, you know, "together." "When's the wedding?" they ask after the first month of dating.  Most of the time it's just good-natured jokes, but unwittingly an expectation begins to form. You begin to believe a lie that you are somehow spiritually inferior if you are not yoked to another; somehow marriage is a higher level in the quest to pursue God.  But if this is the case, what about Paul? The man who wrote so much of our New Testament was spirituall

Alexa, play Toxic by Britney Spears.  Usually my blog posts are a reflection on theology or cultural tensions I've observed. However, for this one, I wanted to take a more light-hearted look at the dating/life experiences of my friends and myself.  A little context as we explore this: In college I made some... Interesting dating choices. I also watched my friends have heartbreak after heartbreak as we overgrown children entered a new world of vulnerability and emotions. Together, we brainstormed an idea for a book about these experiences, originally titled "Red Flags: A memoir in dating." Now, this idea has evolved and I'm applying the concept to a series of blogposts, beginning with this one.  For the purpose of this specific post, my goal is to introduce the topic and do a cursory look at observations of dating using an app. Also, as I am a female, and majority of my friends are also female, I'm looking at our interactions with guys. My plan is for this to be a