Life's Not Blowing Her Kisses Thanks To You...

My family's standards on a male-female relationship are much... Stricter than others. Instead of dating, we court- engaging in a relationship with the intention of getting married.

We don't participate in boyfriends or girlfriends, kissing before you're married, dances, young relationships- things that can break ones heart at an age where they can't handle it.

And I like this so much. I know that I'd be a completely different person if I were dating guys left and right. I know that I wouldn't still hold on to some of my innocense if things were different. But instead, I'm going to wait until I'm old enough and mature enough to really comprehend my feelings. Until I've found a guy who loves the Lord, loves me, and I... Really like. Not just because he make have good looks.

Handle relationships with care. Don't go out with a guy just because he's cute. Don't go out with a girl just because she has nice hair. If you don't want to go on a date, then don't! Don't feel pressured by the drama you may encounter at school, or peer pressure, or anything.

Let's take the song "Gone" by tobyMac to illustrate this.

I told the girl that you should treat her like a lady and
She told me all the things you did and it was shady, man
She said that what you say and what you do are different things
While you were telling me that you were checking out them blingy rings

Sounds to me like the person Toby's singing to was going behind his girl's back. Doing "shady" things that makes my hair curl just to think about. Not staying true.

Is this the type of person that you would want to be in a relationship with? If you're not sure about it; if you don't know that you have the right person, then you could be experiencing awful things for no good reason. This is just one reason why we should stay away from loose relationships.

She said she's had enough
Well, it sounds to me like you're straight out of luck
And she said she's all through
And life's not blowin' her kisses thanks to you

He treated her like dirt, she's packing her bags and leavin'! Just think... If he hadn't gone behind her back, he could have saved both of them a whole lot of pain.

I wanna know, wanna know what you were thinkin'
I can't imagine why it didn't even sink in
They say you never know what you got till it's gone

What was he thinking?! Thinking that he could get away with this? Thinking that his feelings were more important than hers? Thinking that he didn't care if he completely ruined her life? Thinking that it didn't matter if she was scarred for life against men because of what he did?

I don't think he was thinking at all! (THINK! It's not illegal yet!)

She said she's had enough
So, it sounds to me like your still out of love
And she said you weren't true
And life's not blowin' her kisses thanks to you

So, it sounds to me like she went through enough! So, it sounds to be like you treated her like dirt! So, it sounds to me like you oughta' apologize to that poor girl whose heart you just broke! So, it sounds to me like you gotta get your priorities straight, man!

She said it's gonna be alright
Cause God made a way through the pain and he opened her eyes
And she said you came crawling back
But after what you did to her she wouldn't have any of that

Psssh! You tried to work you way back to her, after what you just did?! You must be crazy, boy! But look at that- God made a way through the pain, and He opened her eyes. He opened her eyes to the fact that this isn't the end of the world. That's she's gotta forgive. It doesn't matter how badly that boy hurt her- she's got to get up, and move on. Push past the pain, and look at the other doors laid out for her.

I wanna know, wanna know what you were thinkin'
I can't imagine why it didn't even sink in
They say you never know what you got till it's gone

So I hope you've learned a lesson here. Maybe you date, maybe you court. Maybe you're not really sure what to think about relationships. But I can tell you this much:

Handle them with care. Don't take love for granted. Just because you've only been together for a few days doesn't mean that it won't hurt if you do some "shady things". Think about what you're getting into. Relationships aren't meant to be on and off. They're not meant to be tossed around like pizza dough. They're meant to get men and women who truly love each other, closer to each other. To allow them to spend the rest of their lives together.

So please, don't be like the man described in "Gone".

Or else, pretty soon, you'll have me saying

I wanna know, wanna know what you were thinkin'
I can't imagine why it didn't even sink in
They say you never know what you got till it's gone

'Cause life sure ain't blowing her kisses- thanks to you.