Forever and Always... or Until I get Tired of You...

Anyone ever heard of Brett Ullman? Well last night my youth group watched Brett Ullman's talk on dating known as Dating For Life. OH MY GOODNESS! The things you all should know! I hope you guys all get a chance to either see him live, or watch his video sometime. It is something everyone should watch before starting dating, or thinking of getting married. I'll share a few of my notes that should make a bit of sense to you guys... hopefully! Also I will attach the link for his website, pdf of questions, and youtube promo vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3FvqYx-uN4
The first thing Brett brought up was the fact that we live in a very uncontent world. We feel like our cell phone or ipod is out of date... so we throw it out and get a new one. Sadly enough... we do the same thing with our relationships! Oh... this is too much work, I'll just let it go and find a new one. This mindset is in dating and sadly in marriages. :( The divorce rate is at 45-55% and doesn't shock people anymore. Here's something else... 75% of people say they are unhappy in their marriage after 10 years of marriage. (in other words only 25% of people are happy after 10 years of marriage).

Breanna's Input: in Philippians 4:11-12 it says, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." In other words... be content! This applies to relationships too my friends! Be content in your relationship and don't go seeking after someone who may look hotter on the outside, but who's heart is corrupt.


Back to Brett now... His next point was that divorce is the punishment for not preparing before marriage. In other words... you didn't ask the right questions before you married the guy/girl and now you're going ok... that's not good! To help us out... he gave us a list of questions you should talk about with your significant other before you tie the knot. http://www.brettullman.com/images/stories/pdfs/dfl_questions.pdf
I encourage you to read over these questions and figure out which are your "deal breakers" for getting married. I mean, dating ultimately leads to marriage! So think about it! Oh and a quote of his I liked was "Marriage is the practice of becoming passionate friends." :) Best friends... for life! Ultimate BFF's! I like it!

Also he talked about dating non-christians and used the verses that I also used in my post on the topic. Something he said to look at for the person you're considering dating or are dating would be:
Faith-Does it matter to you? How is this person doing with:
Church- do they attend regularly and without excuses?
Youth Group- if they are highschool aged are they involved in youth?
Small Group- do they have a small group or friends they get together with to read the Bible and talk about stuff with?
Missions- are the actively living out God's command to spread the word?
Working with the poor- are they helping out closer to home?
Giving to organizations- do they tithe? do they give money to organizations when they feel called to?
Prayer- do they have an active prayer life?
Reading the Bible- are they seeking after God?

Not all of these might be super important to you... but if you're looking for a strong Christian, they should be mostly all true!

Also his biggest point was communicate! Talk! If you don't talk or ask questions, you're not going to get very far and relationships will die off.

Dating For Life Website: http://www.brettullman.com/talks/datingforlife.html

Anyways... Its getting late so I should sign off. If you guys want to know more or want some more of my notes from this let me know! :)

God Bless,
Breanna