I have been reading a book titled "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris. It is really good and I highly recommend it. Just now I was reading about redeeming the time you have while you are single. It listed some ways we can prepare for marriage: intimacy, seeking God with others, financial responsibility, parenthood, and practical life skills. For intimacy I am working on being more open with my parents and learning how to communicate with them. I do a pretty good job taking care of my finances, making sure my bills are paid and only buying things if I have the money for it and it is a necessity, but there is always room for improvement. I have a great opportunity to "practice" parenthood with my five younger siblings. I am also a nanny to a homeschooling family of six children. I help with the laundry, the cleaning, helping the six year old with his school work, taking care of the four youngest, and chauffeuring the two oldest. Currently I need to work on seeking God with others. I have never done that before. I do my own devotions and my family has done family devotions, but I have never done one on one devotions or simply just talked to siblings and/or friends about God's great love and mercy. I am not sure how I am going to do that yet so I will have to update you on that later. The other one I need to work on is practical life skills. I am currently trying to work on cooking/baking. Also, in June maybe, I am going to try to do all the menu planning and cooking (but I am going to have mom help me with the grocery shopping). Until then I am going to finish reading this great book.
