What I Wished Someone Told Me About Dating

This post is written in response to Bonnie Gray's Faith Barista Jam on the topic of dating...

I’m headed towards the dreaded curve for the second time this week. It twists and curls itself around the building up to the menu box. “Welcome to McDonalds,” the lady exclaims. I drive away with three My Little Pony Hamburger Happy Meals…again.

I place the meals on the passenger’s side. As the French fry smell tickles the edge of my nose, I can’t resist-- I must have a fry! I begin fiddling with the box. I yank out several fries. One of them is so crunchy, it about chips my tooth! And girl, I’ve had braces twice, and a chipped tooth is not okay!

You may be wondering, “What in heaven’s name does this have to do with dating?” Well, as I sit alone crunching on a burned French fry, I begin thinking of the topic of dating.

This is what I came up with:

Guys are like McDonald’s French fries. So profound, isn’t it?

They can be crunchy, hard, stale, soft, over-done, short, or tall. Sometimes they look good on the outside but the taste isn’t what you expected.

My personal dating experiences were a lot like those fries. They looked like the real thing, but they were imitators. They were phonies trying to pass themselves off as the ultimate guy. They imitated the world, not God (See Ephesians 5:1)—and it showed. Several red flags and a lot of broken hearts later, I figured that out.

God has given you one face, and you make yourself another. ~William Shakespeare

God has given me a wonderful husband and three little girls. If I were talking to my babygirls right now, I would say, “People are not always what they seem—be on guard.” I wish someone had told me.

I wish someone had told me…

Dating isn’t always fun;
Your door may not always be held open;
Your date may think fishing is more important;
Abusive relationships are hard to walk away from;
People may try to change me; and
How much betrayal hurts.

I went through a lot of stale fries before getting to the good one. Do you know why? I tried filling the lonely places with relationships instead of God. Those places crying out when there’s no prom date, the places longing for dinner and a movie, the places desiring to be held for no particular reason. These are places that can only be filled by the One who created our hearts and understands them.

I wish someone had told me the waiting would be hard.

Dating is a battlefield.

We Jesus girls must take spiritual inventory before entering the trenches of dating. We must ask ourselves, “Are we serving the “Kingdom of Me” or are we honoring the “Kingdom of God” in our dating choices?

Just like that hamburger Happy Meal, dating can either be stale and empty or fresh and satisfying!

Best Pick Up Line Comebacks:“Single and Content,” Word Publishing, 1999

Your body is like a Temple.
Sorry, there are no services today.

Hey baby, what’s your sign?
Stop.

I want to give myself to you.
Sorry, I don’t accept cheap gifts.

I can tell you want me.
Yes, I want you to leave.

May I have the last dance?
You’ve just had it.