by Sadie Robertson Huff | Oct 28, 2021 | Featured, Life Advice, Love, Relationships, Wisdom
da·ting (verb)
DEFINITION: The act of being in a relationship that brings out the best version of you while also learning selflessness, humility, and love.
Your girl Sadie Rob sharing here. The two biggest aspects to entering into a relationship is knowing when you are ready to date and being able to identify when it is the right relationship.
How do you know when you are ready to date?
This answer is coming from a humble place, because had I known this when I was 16, I would have saved people and myself from a lot of heartache. Looking back, I am truly sad to say that out of my brokenness, I would get into relationships because I “needed” something. Of course, at the time, I didn’t realize my impure motives. I never intentionally thought, going into a relationship, that I was trying to “get something” out of anyone, but I can see now that I was searching for something.
I needed self-confidence, reassurance, affirmation, healing, someone to make me feel less lonely, someone to redeem the past. I went into every relationship needing something that only Jesus could give me. When it ended it left me feeling emptier than when I started. I think you are ready to date when you find contentment in Christ and don’t actually “need anything from anyone.” You have to realize that they cannot and will not give you what only Jesus can give you.
How do you know when it is the right relationship?
First off, I want to touch on how you can know you’re in a WRONG relationship. One good clue is to look at who you have become since dating that person. If you have lost your personality, your peace, your joy, your confidence, your purity and the desires inside of you, then it’s probably time to lose the relationship and find yourself again in Christ. The wrong relationship will produce the wrong fruit. If you have to change who you are, it’s not the right relationship.
The right relationship will produce the right fruit in you and through you. It will bless you, not take from you.
Ask yourself questions like: “Since the beginning of this relationship, have I seen the fruit of Jesus in my life?” No one is going to be perfect, so don’t look for perfect, but you can be and should be HEALTHY!
The other thing is when you realize the one you are dating is really “the one”, it won’t be some magical moment with bells ringing and pixie dust falling from the sky and seven shooting stars flashing across the sky like a July 4th celebration. You won’t get a “sign” written by the universe that he is the one. I think so many times we get caught up in looking for a sign.
The looking causes us to miss the actual magic of how God brings two people together. How he creates one to complete the other. Stop looking for crazy signs around you and look in front of you. That way you can see that what you prayed for is standing right there. Look inside of you and realize who you have become by the power and blessing of partnering with who God has created.
If you happen to find this right relationship in college, what a blessing! If not, God is preparing you for something that only a season of singleness can bring about. Those years are sweet if you can have the eyes to see it through that lens. Don’t wish it away.
TRUTH: Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
How can you apply this scripture to your perspective of dating?1. What are you looking for in a dating relationship?
2. What could God be wanting to show you in your season of singleness or dating?
3. What are some ways you could start preparing for the person God has for you?
by Samantha Coyle | Feb 15, 2021 | Life Advice, Relationships |
When I was 16 I dreamed of owning a brand new Kia Optima. Don’t ask me why, but I thought it was the greatest car ever. When I had finally saved enough money to go buy my first car, it was number one on my list. Out of my price range, I didn’t even torture myself by test driving it. Instead, I left the owner of a 2006 KIA Spectra named Grace Kelley with 100,000 miles under her belt, and a mild feeling of defeat. I told myself one day I would own the car I actually wanted. I knew if I could just have this car, then I would be happy.
Fast forward five years and I was at a dealership car shopping. The first car on my list? A Kia Optima. I was so excited. I got in the car, I buckled my seatbelt, and I started the test drive. Guess what? I HATED IT. I absolutely hated this car. It wasn’t comfortable, I didn’t like the way it drove, I didn’t like the way it felt, and I didn’t like the features it had or the way it was laid out. This car that I had dreamed of owning for years was absolutely nothing that I had made it in my mind to be.
I did this with my whole life. I had these wild expectations and fantasies of how things would go and what they would be, of how they would fulfill me, quench my desires, and make me happy. I often found myself with the same sting of defeat as I did leaving the dealership realizing what I thought I wanted didn’t fulfil the expectations I had placed on it, but more than that, that it didn’t fulfill me.
Expectation is a slippery slope. It becomes an idol if we’re not careful. How do we know when something is an idol? It becomes our hope. It becomes the center of our fulfillment. It replaces the rightful place of God. It becomes an “if I have this, get this, do this, look like this, make this much money, gain this status, THEN I’ll be happy, THEN I’ll be satisfied.” And the biggest idol I had? Relationships.
I sought my worth, value and all my identity in relationships. How guys viewed, treated, and pursued me directly influenced how good or bad I felt about myself. I was a slave to the opinions of the men I looked to for validation. When those opinions were negative, I would do everything I could to manipulate every situation to control every outcome. I did whatever it took to swing the pendulum in my favor.
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:1-3
My desire to be loved at any cost took everything from me over and over and over again. I didn’t care what I had to do to get it. Even at the expense of myself, and even worse, other people. Relationships were for my consumption in order to feel good about myself. This is the furthest thing from love, and this isn’t what relationships were created for. So what were they created for?
Ephesians 5:21-33 lays out the perfect foundation of the purpose of marriage. It says, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
To make her holy, cleansed, radiant, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, blameless. Paul repeats holy twice. The purpose of relationship is sanctification. To present one another as holy before the Lord. To die to yourself, to love one another as yourself, to take up your cross, to commit to total humility, total self sacrifice, to love without expectation or even a return of love, to be Christ to your spouse and to make their holiness your highest value. If we valued the purpose of marriage as much as we valued the idea of marriage, our relationships would look a lot different, a lot healthier, a lot happier, a lot more fulfilling, a lot more successful.
It’s not what can I get, but what can I give? Not how can I control, but how can I serve? Not love me, but how can I love you best? How can I do relationship with you in a way that my highest goal is to present you holy and blameless before the Lord. How can I love you in such a way that when you stand face to face with Jesus, he will say, “well done my good and faithful servant” because I partnered with you in running the race well? Caring about someone else’s eternity and relationship with the Lord over them pleasing you or fulfilling your every desire, THAT is real love.
Two years ago today, with no sense of identity, with a love for the idea of marriage instead of the purpose of marriage, with no preparation or wisdom about what the covenant of marriage really meant, I walked onto Alys Beach and a man got down on one knee in front of me and asked me to marry him. I said yes. I will never forget looking out into the ocean with a lump in my throat and the same sting of defeat deep in my soul.
The sting of disappointment wasn’t because the man asking me to spend my life with him wasn’t an amazing man of God. It was because I finally had everything I thought I had ever wanted, someone loved me, someone chose me, I finally had it all, and I stood there feeling the most empty I had ever felt. It didn’t fill me up. It didn’t make me feel secure. I didn’t feel whole because of it. I just felt like the same insecure, broken me. A marriage about me is empty, already dead and gone, over before it even starts, and that’s where I was. Six months later, after a lot of heartbreak, that engagement ended.
My broken engagement was the greatest gift that the Lord has ever given me, because it forced me to look in the mirror and face the fact that I was a selfish, sinful human being. It forced me to face the fact that I had consumed people and relationships for my own benefit and it wasn’t working. It forced me to true repentance. It forced me to face the lies I believed about myself head on, and it taught me the true source of my identity. Him.
So this isn’t a blog post on how to find the perfect husband, or how to be patient to wait for God to bring you one, or even how to be what a Godly man wants, but a (hopefully encouraging) cautionary tale for every girl that reads it. Marriage isn’t going to fulfill you and it’s not created to. Marriage isn’t for our consumption, but for our sanctification. And most of all, marriage isn’t going to take away the dark parts of your heart or give you true identity. Only Christ can do that. So when God calls us to seek him first above all things, he really means it for our own good. Marriage is the closest parallel to how Christ loves us and it is an incredible gift, but all gifts of God are best enjoyed within the confines of his boundary lines.
If I leave you with one thing, I hope it’s that the Lord loves you so much. He created you, chose you, says you are worthy, cherished, valuable. You don’t have to give yourself away in order to receive it because he gave himself away for you to. I pray that we all get to live in the fullness of Christ’s love for us first, so when and if we do get the privilege of a spouse, we would come alongside them and run after the Kingdom together, and that Heaven on earth would start between us.
Samantha Coyle is the writer and encourager behind @heytheresam and HeythereSam.com. Her mission is to share the heart of God and what He’s done for us by bringing real, raw honesty to the table, encouraging vulnerable community rooted in Truth and grace. While normal days look pretty mundane, i.e. drinking matcha, laughing a lot at her own jokes, jamming worship in her car, doing a LOT of laundry and cooking for the family she works for, and hanging with her friends in Nashville, she has big dreams to share the gospel with women all over the world!
Follow her personal account on Insta @heytheresam and also find her on Sadie’s app, LO sister, as an ambassador where she shares even more encouragement and fun!
by Sadie Robertson Huff | Feb 11, 2021 | Life Advice, Relationships |
Urban Dictionary’s definition of valentine’s day is this; “Holiday maliciously created to make lonely people extremely depressed.” And you know what guys, that just makes me really sad. It makes me sad, because I don’t think that is what Valentine’s Day is about at all. I don’t think it is about single people. Nor do I think it is about married people. I don’t think it is about engaged people, or those who are dating. I think Valentine’s day is for all people, because I would like to think that the heart of Valentine’s Day is not relationships, but that the heart of Valentine’s Day is love itself. A day where the whole world acknowledges and is intentional about the way that we love.
However, we cannot change the way that the world thinks. Well, I guess we can because we the people make up the world. But my point is that we do not have to go parading around telling the world to not have such a shallow view of Valentine’s day. Instead of spending our time trying to change the world, let’s just look inside of our own individual hearts and change our heart to get off the Valentine’s Day Sucks campaign and make our heart align with the word of God. The truth is, as a Christian, a day focused on love should be the day that the church and the people who follow Jesus THRIVE – regardless of your dating status.
In Matthew 22 the Pharisees put their heads together to try to ask Jesus a question that would stump him. One of them who was an expert in the law decided to test Jesus with the question, “which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” I want us to look at what Jesus said, because I am sure that the last thing this expert was thinking Jesus would say as the greatest of all the commandments would be to love.
Jesus replied:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).
If I were to start a new campaign slogan for valentine’s day it would be those words right there listed as the second greatest command – love your neighbor as yourself today. Give your neighbor chocolate, give your neighbor a hug, give your neighbor a letter, show your neighbor you appreciate them, bring your neighbor dinner, and know that by loving your neighbor you’re fulfilling your purpose. Also, it does not actually have to be your next door neighbor – just show love to a friend. And as you start living out your purpose you yourself will start feeling more loved. As you love others you may just also fall in love with who you are, too. What a better day you would have fulfilling purpose, giving love, and receiving love instead of wallowing in the fact that you’re single or the teddy bear your husband got you was not as big as the one you saw on Instagram.
A big thing I see people talking about in religious Christianity is that people fear they are not doing enough for God. That they are not reading their bible enough, giving enough, singing enough, praying enough and so on. The truth is God’s love is not measured on what you can do for him. But if we did look at it as a measure I want you to see that beyond anything you can do for God what He ultimately desires of you is that you have love in your heart – for him and for others. Let’s read in 1 Corinthians 13:
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
These words have pierced my soul many times, “If I don’t have love then I am nothing. If I don’t have love I gain nothing.” I do wonder sometimes if the reason we struggle so much as a generation not knowing our purpose and not feeling fulfilled is because we bypass the very thing that would give us our identity and worth, love itself. Christians, you could feed the poor, you could prophecy over thousands, you could have wisdom beyond anyone you know, and you could even have faith big enough that it would move a mountain, but it is nothing without love.
So now that you are challenged and maybe even convicted by the lack of love you have had in your heart you may be wondering where to from here. Well below is a guide for you on how to love well from 1st Corinthians 13. But even the guide could feel overwhelming as you wonder how in your humanity you could muster up the love we have been called to. I want you to know that you by yourself cannot do this perfectly. 1st John 4 tells us that God is love. As you read this description of love instead of reading it as a guide for what you need to be let it be a description of who God is to you. You have to know that the perfect form of this love is who God is. The beauty of it all is that the only way to follow the commands of God is learn from God.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Go out and LOVE today. Find your identity and purpose in that love today. If you don’t know where to start, I wanted to give y’all a practical way you can love today.
I’m excited to share that I’ve team up with Erica Woolston for a very special bracelet for a very special cause this Valentine’s Day.
Together, we’ve created the “Imprint Bracelet” a 14K gold beaded bracelet and with your purchase of the bracelet, we will be donating 50% to the A21 Campaign – a Campaign fighting human trafficking through reach, rescue, and restoration.
To purchase the bracelet, click HERE.
And for more information on this cause, visit A21.org.
May we live in a world where men, women, and children are no longer exploited for their bodies. A world where we are all free. Thank you for making your imprint – one that is helping fight to see the end of modern day slavery.
by Kailee Elise | Jan 12, 2021 | College, Life Advice, Relationships
Note from Team LO: We are SO excited to bring you this month’s post from our LO sister member, Kailee Elise! If you want to be a part of this incredible community, you can join today and get your first week FREE! Find out more about this online sisterhood HERE. And for more info about what LO sister is all about, visit our Instagram Page!
Now, enjoy today’s post from Kailee 🙂
Wake up.
Turn off the alarm.
Scroll through my phone.
Get up.
Pick up my to-do list.
Go through the motions.
And watch the next day roll around.
What day even is it? Monday? Friday? Sunday?
The days used to have such distinction, but now they simply roll together. Plans used to be made, but now they’re all canceled. Friends used to get together, but now it’s a risk to even do so.
It seems as if the world went on pause. But at the same time, it keeps moving. Time keeps passing. The to-do list still manages to fill up. And the emotions definitely don’t stop coming.
Fear.
Anxiety.
Waiting.
Loneliness.
Do any of these feel familiar? Truth is, we’re all in this together. Yet separate. As I was driving the other day, I passed a sign that was promoting to stay at home to stop the spread of covid. At the bottom, it read: #AloneTogether.
We’re all in this together. Yet ironically more alone than ever. Community can still be found over our phones. But in person? Very little so.
I’m going to be honest. This season has been lonely for so many, and I’ve been right there too. Longing for community. For friends to hang out with. To see people I haven’t in months, or even a year at this point. It’s normal. God designed us for community from the start. After forming Adam, He said that it’s not good for man to be alone. So no wonder this isolated season has been so challenging.
However, in the midst of this, I’ve realized that we’re genuinely not alone: Jesus is with us. Jesus is longing for a relationship. To be your friend. To be your Savior. To be able to pour into your life as you pour into Him.
Psalms 5:11 says, “but let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy.” Even if the situation is less than desirable, take refuge in Jesus. And He can fill you up with gladness and joy.
Yesterday the weight of this entire season was weighing down on my heart. I was drained. I had little energy, or motivation to do much. Yes, I had a to-do list. But I questioned why I even needed to complete it. What the point in doing so was. If the things I had written down really, truly mattered, or if they were just written to have a sense of business. It felt like all purpose was nowhere to be found.
In hope for a little boost, I listened to a sermon, which usually fills me up with a newly found energy and centers my heart to Jesus, and the fullness He provides, again. The pastor pronounced that God is still moving even when you can’t see it. This is easy to say when you’re not experiencing slowness or discouragement. But in the midst of it, the true test arises.
Is your faith firmly in Jesus?
Do you trust that He’s still there, loves you, and has a plan intact?
Think of it as a spiritual muscle. When the discouragement, waiting, and questioning come, that’s when the muscle can be strengthened. It takes going through the uncomfortable to reach true growth that makes an impact. Just like with working out, it takes the exercises that aren’t necessarily loved at the moment to see progress. It may seem tough at the moment, but afterward, knowing you pushed through, is so rewarding. And over time, progress can start to show.
A muscle can’t grow overnight, or even in a week. It can take months or years. The same goes for spiritual growth.
When you feel the most purpose-less may be the times when God’s trying to grow your heart the most. When He’s truly trying to show you that in the mundane, you already have so much purpose. Because your ultimate purpose already rests in the fact that you’re a beloved child of God, made in His very own image. Our purpose isn’t found in how much we’re accomplishing, or whether our dreams are coming true or not. It’s found in resting in Jesus alone.
So in the questioning or feelings of purposelessness, take that time to challenge your faith. To remember Jesus is still there. He hasn’t forsaken you, and He’s still moving. In this day of doubt, I continued to listen to sermons, read the Bible, and books on people’s faith, and what God has brought them through. I worshipped. I focused on recentering my heart with Jesus’. And I did find a newly found sense of peace and fullness.
Discouragement may try to seep into your life over and over. But sometimes it simply takes letting the Savior fill you up again, to truly realize that He is there. And that He is all you need. Even through the losses. Even through the mundane.
When all purpose or motivation seems lost: remember God still has a plan. It may be slow. You may feel alone. But you’re absolutely not alone.
God is with you, has gone behind you, and is going before you.
He wants you to press into a relationship with Him when you feel alone.
He wants to work in your heart when you’re discouraged.
He wants to love you right where you’re at.
He’s on the move, my friend.
Every slow or difficult season is carefully crafted with a beautiful plan and blessing in store. It may not be now: it may be found in eternity. But in the midst of our struggles, we can place our hope and joy in Him. For in Him alone we will find refuge, joy, and rejoicing.
“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as a shield” (Psalm 5:11-12).
by Korie Robertson | Nov 19, 2020 | Life Advice, Relationships |
“Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” John 2:7-11
I love weddings! Each of the weddings in our family have had their own special touches, some big, others small, some at our home, others at a distant location, but my favorite thing about weddings ands the one thing they have all had in common is that there is nothing sweeter or more special than having all of your favorite people in the world come together in one place, under one tent, to celebrate, honor and bear witness to the marriage of one of your children. It is truly one of the most sacred, and also most fun moments of life!
The morning after Sadie and Christian’s wedding I woke up and thought how fun would it be to somehow give that gift to someone else. I know weddings while being joy-filled occasions can also be stressful, overwhelming and let’s face it…expensive! So I decide then that we would “give away” a wedding to someone that needed it. I didn’t know what that would look like, just determined that we would, and then 2020 came, our world went into a global pandemic and all of a sudden there were thousands and thousands of brides who had dreamed and planned, prayed and saved and put deposits down for weddings that would have to be canceled. I could only imagine how devastating that would be! Sadie and the LO team immediately began dreaming about how they could help this group of “Covid brides” feel a little less alone, and I along with my awesome assistant, fellow dreamer, and ultimate party planner, Lindsay, immediately started planning how we could gift a wedding to a special bride!
I loved getting the opportunity to help Elizabeth and Adam celebrate their love story in such a special way, even if it looked different than they had originally imagined. I think we can all agree that 2020 has been far from normal, but to be a part of the beginning of a couple’s life together, and to help them to celebrate when every thing seemed lost and turned upside down was a complete joy. I hope this inspires you to find ways to celebrate, even in the midst of whatever setbacks or disappointments life brings. Two becoming one is always something to celebrate! Enjoy Elizabeth’s Story…
P.S. Don’t you love that the very first miracle that Jesus performed was at a wedding! Isn’t it so beautiful to see that the savior of the universe listened to his mother and turned water to wine so that a wedding celebration could continue? Our God is always about the business of bringing beauty out of the ashes!
From Elizabeth:
Let’s talk about wedding planning. It’s a subject that every bride from past, present, and future knows all too well. It’s a little crazy, stressful, and can even be dramatic at the worst of times. Now let’s make it interesting by throwing a little bit of 2020 into the mix and see what concoction we can come up with. Here’s my story of how my wedding went from being something I always dreamed about to a complete nightmare and then circled all the way back to being the most magical, perfect day a bride could hope for. It’s a bit of a journey so bear with me.
I met my husband, Adam, back in 2016. We started dating about 6 months after meeting and got engaged Christmas 2018. I could not believe how perfect the proposal was! He even picked out the ring himself and let me tell y’all – he didn’t just do good. He did great! We immediately began wedding planning by picking out the date – April 4, 2020. We knew we’d need some time to save up and we were about to move to Texas, so we gave ourselves plenty of breathing room.
We moved and got our lives started in the Lone Star State with a new job for me and a job transfer for Adam. As an event planner for the past 7 years, I was in familiar territory or at least I thought I was. We had everything finalized and then the world turned upside down.
I was sitting in a conference room at work in March when my boss made the announcement that we were cancelling our annual conference due to the pandemic and the thought suddenly occurred to me that I needed to start looking at a contingency plan for the wedding.
I’m not going to lie and tell you that I kept it together. I cried for maybe a week on and off about the wedding. I was a mess and full of panic. Adam and I had to make a decision and we had to make it quickly since our wedding was less than a month away.
We decided to postpone the reception indefinitely and have a small intimate ceremony with 10 people at my Dad’s house in Shreveport, LA. We would try to get back as much as we could from vendors we no longer needed and keep the ones we did need. We had a plan, and it was all going to work out! Except it didn’t – my Dad, stepmom, and little sister were all exposed to someone with Covid-19 and their 2-week quarantine wouldn’t be up until April 5. Did I mention we learned all of this after getting back home from getting out marriage license in Louisiana?
And then the tears were there again. We put things on hold for a while until I could work up the courage to make another plan. My amazing florist, Brianna Belton, was seriously a godsend. She was the one person who helped keep me sane and didn’t make me feel crazy as I asked her question after question about what her other brides were doing and what dates she had available.
From there, we set on a new date and venue – October 3, 2020 in Bossier City, LA at Brianna’s own workshop. We decided to keep things small with 70 people and go for it. Honestly, I was sick of wedding planning at this point. It was supposed to be the greatest experience and it just wasn’t anymore. But then something I can only describe as a miracle happened.
Brianna called and said she had a vendor reach out to her who had a previous client that was wanting to do something nice for a bride and groom affected by the pandemic. Brianna asked if she could give them my contact information for them to reach out to me and I said yes.
About a week went by when I received a Facetime call from Korie Robertson. I was in complete shock. Korie offered for Adam and I to get married at their family farm in Calhoun, LA at no charge. It immediately felt like such a blessing that we really needed and a sign from God that this was really going to work itself out for the better.
We kept wedding planning and the blessings kept pouring in. Glass Chapel Videography who was looking to get back in the game after moving back to the area and wanted to be a part of our wedding at no cost to us. Bash Booth (and the original vendor contact) offered their services free of charge. A Element Event Rentals based out of New Orleans who wanted to be a part of this by giving us rentals to use. Not to mention the Robertson’s who not only let us use their property, but also paid for the food for the wedding, gave us their tent to use, and opened up their home to us the day of to get ready.
We are forever grateful to the Robertson’s for this amazing opportunity and for making us fall back in love with our wedding. They gave us the best day we could have ever dreamed of.
I am extremely honored to have been chosen for this and to have worked alongside the many amazing vendors who made this day possible. Your kindness will be something I never forget as long as I live. In more ways than you can imagine – thank you.
Venue – Willie and Korie’s Farm, Korie Robertson @bosshogswife
Florals, Styling, & Catering – Brianna Belton Designs @briannabeltondesign
Photobooth: Sarah Jeffords @bashbooth
Photography – Kayla Hall Photography @kaylahallphotography
Videography – Glass Chapel Motion @glasschapelmotion
Hair & Makeup – Grace Coyer Trahan
DJ – HollyTrees Weddings & Events @hollytreesweddingsandevents
Cake – Uptown Down @udruston
Dress – A & Be Bridal Shop Dallas @aandbe_bridalshop
Explore Elements: @exploreelements
by Madeline Kellas | Nov 17, 2020 | College, Life Advice, Relationships |
Note from Team LO: We are SO excited to bring you this month’s post from our LO sister member, Madeline Kellas! If you want to be a part of this incredible community, you can join today and your your first week FREE! Find out more about this online sisterhood HERE. And for more info about what LO sister is all about, visit our Instagram Page!
Now, enjoy today’s post from Madeline 🙂
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A few days ago I was led to read chapter 29 from the book of Genesis which contains the story of Jacob and Rachel. To give some context to the story, Jacob and Essau were the sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob and Essau were twins, and when they were born Essau came out first, making him the eldest son. It was traditional in Jewish culture for the eldest son to receive a birthright blessing from their father. The abridged version of what happens next is that Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him Essau’s birthright blessing. Once Essau found out he was furious, so Jacob fled his homeland in order to escape Essau’s wrath, and that, my friends, is where Genesis 29 picks up.
During his travels, Jacob came upon a well and saw a group of men standing there who, as it turned out, knew a relative of his, Laban. The men at the well informed Jacob that Laban’s daughter, Rachel, who worked as a shepherdess, was approaching the well. Jacob was instantly captivated by her beauty and she was equally captivated by him.
Jacob asked, “Do you know Laban son of Nahor?” “We do.” “Are things well with him?” Jacob continued.“Very well,” they said. “And here is his daughter Rachel coming with the flock.” Jacob said, “There’s a lot of daylight still left; it isn’t time to round up the sheep yet, is it? So why not water the flocks and go back to grazing?” “We can’t,” they said. “Not until all the shepherds get here. It takes all of us to roll the stone from the well. Not until then can we water the flocks.” While Jacob was in conversation with them, Rachel came up with her father’s sheep. She was the shepherd. The moment Jacob spotted Rachel, daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, saw her arriving with his uncle Laban’s sheep, he went and single-handedly rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. Then he kissed Rachel and broke into tears. He told Rachel that he was related to her father, that he was Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father. When Laban heard the news—Jacob, his sister’s son!—he ran out to meet him, embraced and kissed him and brought him home. Jacob told Laban the story of everything that had happened.
The chapter goes on to say:
When Jacob had been with him for a month, Laban said, “Just because you’re my nephew, you shouldn’t work for me for nothing. Tell me what you want to be paid. What’s a fair wage?” Now Laban had two daughters; Leah was the older and Rachel the younger. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was stunningly beautiful. And it was Rachel that Jacob loved. So Jacob answered, “I will work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” “It is far better,” said Laban, “that I give her to you than marry her to some outsider. Yes. Stay here with me.” So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel. But it only seemed like a few days, he loved her so much.
Okay, so, this is one of the main sections of the text I want to focus on because there is so much information here to unpack.
Once Jacob started working for Laban, Laban desired to pay Jacob for his labor. However, instead of choosing to acquire wealth, Jacob asked Laban if instead of wages Jacob could be granted the privilege of marrying Rachel in return for his work. Laban agreed and determined Jacob would need to work for seven years before he could marry Rachel. Seven years!! I don’t know about you but waiting for long periods of time goes against every fiber in my being. I would like to note though, that in the Bible the number seven symbolizes unity and completeness. We see earlier in Genesis that God created the world in seven days, and on the last day God rested because his work was finished, or complete. Here, in this section of Genesis, we see that Jacob’s work will take seven years to complete. It was right here, the Lord whispered something new to me.
Before I delve into what the Lord shared with me, it is important to note that in Jewish society at this time of this story it was customary for women to give up their profession once they were married so that they could tend to the home and any children who were born. When we are first introduced to Rachel we are told that she was working for her father as a shepherdess, meaning had Laban granted Jacob his blessing to marry Rachel right away she would have had to abandon her work as a shepherdess.
It was right here that the Lord reminded me of something so important. In the seven years of waiting for Jacob to complete his contract of working Laban’s land, Rachel also continued to work as a shepherdess. While my initial reaction to reading that this couple had to wait seven years before they could get married was one of sadness and frustration, the Lord whispered in my ear “maybe Rachel wasn’t done with her mission.” Perhaps Jacob had to work those seven years so that Rachel could continue walking in her purpose. Maybe during her work, Rachel interacted with people who needed what she had to offer. Maybe, just maybe, Rachel wasn’t done serving the Lord and fulfilling her God-given purpose.
The scripture goes on to briefly describe Rachel and her older sister, Leah: “Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was stunningly beautiful.” Friend, I am going to put a pin right here and we will come back to this verse later.
Genesis 29 goes on to say:
Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife; I’ve completed what we agreed I’d do. I’m ready to consummate my marriage.” Laban invited everyone around and threw a big feast. At evening, though, he got his daughter Leah and brought her to the marriage bed, and Jacob slept with her….Morning came: There was Leah in the marriage bed! Jacob confronted Laban, “What have you done to me? Didn’t I work all this time for the hand of Rachel? Why did you cheat me?” “We don’t do it that way in our country,” said Laban. “We don’t marry off the younger daughter before the older. Enjoy your week of honeymoon, and then we’ll give you the other one also. But it will cost you another seven years of work.”
Unfortunately, after working seven years for Laban, Jacob was tricked by him and ended up marrying Rachel’s sister, Leah. While what Laban did is not right, maybe Jacob missed the signs that he was being tricked. Perhaps in his rush to finally be out of his season of waiting Jacob followed his flesh rather than God’s Spirit. Friend, I don’t know about you but I have learned from my own experiences that the ways of the flesh always lead to destruction, but the ways of the Spirit always lead to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
We so often view waiting as a punishment that we become so fixed on moving past our season of waiting that we do everything we can to try and run down the clock. However, in doing so and focusing only on what we want we often miss what God has intended for our season of waiting.
Maybe some of you are waiting to meet a boy, or waiting for your boyfriend to propose so any amount of time feels too long. Friend, I am there with you, I am in my own season of waiting right now, so I know firsthand how hard that can be. But can I suggest that maybe you haven’t met a boy yet because the Lord wants to be first in your life and heart. Or maybe the Lord wants you to use your season of singleness to fall in love with yourself and grow as an individual. Perhaps you’re not engaged yet because your heart posture isn’t right, or the Lord is currently working in your partner’s life and that takes priority over your desires. Or maybe, like Rachel, getting into a relationship, or marriage would distract and call you away from your purpose.
Friend, I know it is hard, but I want to urge you slow down and seek the Lord’s timing and purpose over your own because, as Jacob showed us, when we chase our own desires and flesh we often end up in a heap of trouble, and usually end up waiting even longer.
Later in Genesis 29, after Jacob worked another seven years and married Rachel, we see that his first wife, Rachel’s sister Leah, was really hurting. After all, Jacob worked a total of fourteen years so that he could marry Rachel. But then there was Leah, who the Bible described as having weak eyes. Remember that verse I said to put a pin in and we would visit it later? Let’s delve into that now. To my understanding, “weak eyes” means what it does today. In other words, Leah needed glasses.
While this part is slightly off-topic, I think it is important to note as the Lord highlighted it to me. When someone has weak eyes, and no access to glasses or any other corrective lenses, they have to take more time to focus, exercise precision, and be extremely intentional in order to do the task at hand because it is harder for them see clearly. Although many of us may want to be more like Rachel, a woman who is known for her beauty, friend, let me suggest that we strive to be more like Leah – intentional and faithful in everything we do, despite the circumstances or environment around us.
We go on to read that despite being unloved by Jacob, Leah remained faithful, and God blessed her for it:
When God realized that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb. But Rachel was barren. Leah became pregnant and had a son…
So, friend, in closing, I hope this spoke to you as it did me. I hope that instead of rushing to be out of your season of waiting that you take the time to slow down and act intentionally like Leah, while shifting your perspective and choosing to view this as time to walk-in your God given purpose like Rachel. I hope most of all, that during your season of waiting that you draw even closer to God.
