If we reflect on the most beautiful moments of our lives, we are often blind to the manifested pain that accompanied them because beauty eclipses pain in retrospect. 

Carissa Knowd. Loving another is a risk. You risk feeling the sting of sad heart. You risk losing momentary happiness to help another gain eternal happiness; however, while that fleeting sadness you may feel hurts, truly loving one another gives your heart new life.

The following excerpt is taken from David Bates's blog, Restless Pilgrim.  "Friends First" is a thoughtful blog post on why Bates believes it best to forgo this dating approach. I think the majority of us women will agree that it's easier to argue for this approach. It makes total sense. But Bates points out some fatal pitfalls.

The following excerpt is taken from David Bates's blog, Restless Pilgrim.  "True Love Waits...and waits..." is a thoughtful blog post on why dating seems to be on the back burner of many men's agenda.

Perhaps the greatest temptation in singleness is to assume marriage will meet our unmet needs, solve our weaknesses, organize our lives, and unleash our gifts. Far from the solution, Paul makes marriage out to be a kind of problematic Plan B of Christian life and ministry. Marry if you must, but be warned, following Jesus is not easier when you join yourself to another sinner in a fallen world.

Traditional courtship — picking up the telephone and asking someone on a date — required courage, strategic planning and a considerable investment of ego (by telephone, rejection stings). Not so with texting, e-mail, Twitter or other forms of “asynchronous communication,” as techies call it. In the context of dating, it removes much of the need for charm; it’s more like dropping a line in the water and hoping for a nibble.       

I could be completely wrong, but I have to side with TSwift a bit: dreaming is beautiful, and there's nothing wrong with it until it takes over your heart and suddenly, you're wounded because you confused your dream with reality. This is where Swafford and I see eye-to-eye.

Dang, I hope writer Christina Mead didn't learn everything from TSwift, but I enjoyed this article because it combats another article on why women should fast from this dating diva (which I happen to disagree with). Writer Christina Mead says, "Essentially, her love gone right and love gone wrong songs are one of the ways God speaks to my heart and helps me."

Something we’ve all come across before is the reality that someone we once knew is no longer the same person. And that’s ok. Change is good. I freaking hate change, but change is necessary.

It was one of the last times I met with my one friend before she graduated that she gave me The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything by James Martin. The following are some of the most beautiful insights to friendship I’ve ever received, paraphrased a la moi.

Girlfriends are the ones who will get you through the gritty parts of life. But you have to reach out to them. I fell into this smut (thesaurus is telling me smut is another word for porn, but I’m creating the word ‘smut’ to mean rut….oh hey), so I fell into this rut the fall of my junior year when I thought a lot of my friends were coupling up and cutting me off.