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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

I like what the Bates family had to say in their dating answer (highlighted section)

http://gilbatesfamily.com/faqs/

What do you believe about dating?

We love dating . . . every week! Every married couple should make a habit of it. It will improve their romance, their communication, and their anticipation! We also enjoy special date nights with the children. It offers great one on one time and allows for heart to heart talks.

As for our children dating others, we’d prefer to save that for marriage . . . Of course, our children have natural attractions for the opposite genders. That’s a normal and exciting part of life that we encourage! In getting to know some of these youth, along with their families, we enjoy more meaningful times of wholesome fellowship than the typical opportunities that dating affords. Dating often focuses primarily on good times and physical attractions. Like-minded fellowship between two families focuses more on deepening friendships, learning commitment, and developing the inward qualities of selflessness and self- control. The youth learn to communicate in a wide variety of settings and experiences. They learn to serve one another. Since the time together is quality time, they have a big head start on a lot of couples that get physically involved, but after several years of marriage realize they don’t even know how to talk to one another. These sad couples feel like they don’t really know each other at all. They feel little to no romance or appreciation. They wonder if they made the right choice and many end their marriage in divorce, beginning again with many wounds and scars from their previous relationships. We choose to by-pass that heartache by preparing for a lasting, loving life together with someone whose attractiveness has become more than skin deep and whose preparation for marriage has been the practice of patience, purity, and character development. That makes for a healthy, happy, harmonious marriage!

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