Month: June 2017

Online Dating Popularity Update

June 26, 2017

According to current stats it seems online dating is here to stay!

Let’s compare this popular post from 5 years ago with these statistics from May of this year:

  1. 49.7 million people have tried online dating
  2. 17.5 million are on eHarmony.com
  3. 24.6 million are on Match.com
  4. 17% of marriages began online – this is the same as 5 years ago
  5. 71% of online daters believe in love at first site – WOW!
  6. New stat – 10% of people who use online dating to meet people are sex offenders
  7. According to eHarmony they are responsible for 4% (down 1% from 5 years back) of marriages from online dating – are other sites creating more matches??

If you’d like to read our story, you can get The Miracle of Us: Confessions of an Online Dater here.

Re-post:

It happened again.

This time I was getting a pedicure and chatting with the lovely woman who attempted to produce something beautiful from my calloused, beach-combing feet. The conversation naturally turned to how we each met our husbands.

Her question prompted my response, “On an internet dating site,” and I grinned, waiting for the usual astonishment.

No way! You’re the third person that I’ve heard of.

I find I’m hearing that more often now. My husband and I know two other married couples who met on Christian Café. Online dating is quickly losing its stigma. Many folks are tired of the bar hopping want-to-go-to-my-place scene. They want more than one night; they long for something real, deeper and permanent.

According to 2012 statistics, internet dating is gaining popularity and producing lasting results.

Did you know that:

  • In 2007, 20 million people tried online dating; in 2012 40 million have jumped onboard
  • 10% of 54 million singles use an online dating service
  • Of online daters, 52.4% are male; 47.6% are female
  • 20% of current committed relationships started online
  • The average length of courtship leading to marriage for online daters is 18.5 months
  • 17% of couples who married met on a dating site
  • According to eHarmony, their site is responsible for 5% of all US marriages

Is it the best option?

While opportunities for meeting the person of your dreams through work, school, and social activities may present themselves to the majority of society, many people find the internet dating situation a beneficial one. Learning a little about someone from a profile or being matched to a compatible suitor offers a dating advantage that supersedes a bar scene or the constant conscious effort to pay attention to every potential single who may be in the next aisle at the grocery store.

Yes, liars and potential dangers do exist online.

But I’ve seen or met some fairly sketchy characters on a college campus, in a restaurant and even at church. There are no guarantees that you won’t meet unscrupulous people on an internet dating site—just as you might anywhere. It’s certainly not the only option; it’s only one of many. But I’m awfully glad I tried it.

Do you know someone who has met online? What’s their story?
 
Statistics provided by www.statisticbrain.com and www.eharmony.com

 

A Father’s Heart

June 18, 2017

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Our earthly fathers teach us about the heart of our heavenly Father.

If they display kindness, patience, gentle instruction, and loving discipline we will view God’s heart towards us in that same way.

And if they are distant, demanding, angry or violent towards us, we will expect our heavenly father to be of that nature.

Dad’s have a huge responsibility.

A mother nurtures and cares for her children…

but a father sets the course of their entire spiritual journey.

That is no small task.

Thank goodness God fathers us first, always and last. Father’s have a heavenly father who shows them what a good father does.

  • He gives good gifts. (Matt. 7:11)
  • He disciplines those he loves as sons. (Prov. 3:12)
  • He is a helper to the fatherless. (Psalm 10:14)
  • He has compassion on his children. (Psalm 103:13)
  • He is consistent. (James 1:17)

So whether or not your father set the example well, God is and has always been our good father.

And for those fathers who have made it their intent to be good father’s to their children, you’ve given your children a greater foundation than you could ever imagine.

Well done. Thank you.

What are some things your father did to show you the character of God?

 

 

 

 

Are You a Victim?

June 11, 2017

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And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice…”  Jesus                                                                                               Luke 18:7-8

Have you ever been robbed?

I was once. Someone broke into my house and stole $600 from my bedroom. Even though I never saw the thief, a creepy sense of violation made being in the house and sleeping at night difficult.

Have you been betrayed?

Maybe a friend gossiped about you, or your spouse had an affair.

Have you lost a loved one because of murder, an accident or illness?

And what about assault? Many of us have been physically abused, molested or raped. Even verbal abuse is an assault. When we’re a victim, we can become stuck in a place of feeling the need for the wrong to be made right. The injustice to be rectified.

We seek – we need vindication.

Most people have had some kind of injustice visited upon them. But much of the time, vindication doesn’t come. Perpetrators rarely admit their crimes let alone apologize for them. Often, our hurt goes unanswered because we kept the offense to ourselves. Maybe we even blamed ourselves.

I was stuck there. Here are a few signs that you may be too:

  • Do you notice even the slightest of wrongs whether against you or not?
  • Are you hyper vigilant to point out when your family “messes up?”
  • Do you find yourself believing that your loved ones are trying to hurt you?
  • Do you take offense at mistakes as if you were the target?
  • Are you quick to assign blame?

Recently, I read the verse above. It wasn’t the first time, but it was the first time that I took to heart what Jesus was saying. I realized that my thoughts and action were often the result of feeling the need for vindication for the many areas I had been victimized in my past.

Jesus’s words finally sunk in.

He is the one who defends me. He will make it right in the end. At some point, those who have hurt me will be called to account. He WILL see justice done because I am his child who he loves.

He loves you too.

He sees our distress and pain. He knows the injustices we’ve suffered. He is not ignoring us. It may seem that he doesn’t care, but his timing is perfect. It is not for us to hold onto the injustices – that only hurts and hinders us.

When we allow his timing for vindication, we can be free to live. No longer will the weight of those moments hinder our lives.

We can let go.

Sometimes we need to talk about the hurt, pain or injustice in order to let it go into Jesus’s hands. I’m happy to listen in the comments below.

 

 

 

 

 

Are You Stuck?

June 4, 2017

117Sometimes in our journey, we feel stuck.

Maybe we are facing a unscalable wall of circumstantial impossibility. Or we feel like we are dragging a wagon full of stuff through the sand at the beach, inching along as sweat drips down our face. The ocean looks so far away. Will we ever get there?

Slow going at best. Immovable at its worst.

Circumstances can mire us into that sense of wandering lost and confused through wilderness. Sometimes obstacles in front of us seem insurmountable. Remember Jericho? But I heard a message recently that breathed life into that desert place and gave me hope for moving my life forward into promise in spite of obstacles.

Well worth the watch. Hope you find it as helpful as I did.

 

Let me know what you think in the comments below. What’s your Jericho?