Lately, I've reading Before You Meet Prince Charming by Sarah Mally. From what I've read so far, it's a great book. Sarah Mally is one of the 3 siblings who published the book Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends a few years ago. This book presents the idea that courting is better than today's modern idea of dating. I agree with Sarah on this. Some of the big things she presents are the problems with today's dating. One of the things she says is that dating is all about the present. It makes you feel really good and cool now, but the effects later can damage you for good. Courting is about the future, waiting for what is God's best for your life. One of the biggest problems I have with dating is that when someone dates, they are probably going to break up. Even though they weren't married, it would be terrible, especially if they had been dating the person for any length of time. Dating and breaking up is a practice for divorce later.
Also, a lot of my friends are "dating", technically. What I see is a lot of people getting hurt at a very young age. I don't believe that people who are that young need to be in a relationship. If they are alone with a boy a lot, they'll start having romantic feelings, even if they are way too young to get married. Also, having had boyfriends earlier in life can cause problems later when they get married. People can lose part of their heart to someone even if they don't think or realize that it happened. It's something that can't be recovered. Lots of people would say stuff like, "Dating is a lot of fun," and "It's so cute for them to have a boyfriend," or "Nothing will possibly happen." But things can happen and the consequences can hurt people for the rest of their lives.
As well as writing Before You Meet Prince Charming and co-writing Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends, Sarah Mally is also the founder of Bright Lights, a ministry program for young teens. You can visit her website here.
For more information on courting, check out I Kissed Dating Good-Bye and Boy Meets Girl, both by Joshua Harris. You can visit his website at www.joshharris.com
