The Best Kept Relationship Secret

Happy Valentine’s Day! Perfect day to post about relationship stuff 🙂

What do you look for in a guy? How do you know if he is the one? If you don’t date, how do you know what to look for?

I get these questions a loooot. The answer is simple. God. It may seem silly or weird to some of you but I 100% depend on God in that area of my life. He is way more seasoned than me and will never disappoint. I think God is the biggest kept secret to making any relationship work.

How can you tell if a guy is with you for the wrong reasons? Or why do girls turn crazy after a couple months of dating? Asked a few friends what they look for in their significant other, this is what I got: loves God, humor, good heart, determination, faith, patience, sex, humility and honesty. Deal breakers:  disrespect, arrogance , pride, no relationship with God, selfish…

Consider our lack of discernment, caused by so many things…feelings are one of them. Some might be obvious, but would you really be able to see any any of the above if you don’t have discernment? (Philippians 1:9-10)

I read this in a book once: think of your relationship with God and your future spouse as a triangle. God at the top point, you two at the two other points. As you get closer to God, you get closer to each other. Once God is done preparing you for each other, bam. It will happen in His timing. God’s timing is always the right timing even if it may not seem like it.

If you’re one of those peeps that thinks v-day is “single awareness day”…good. Now, go bask in your singleness 🙂 What better time to do everything God has called you to do as an individual. All your cares should be for things that belong to the Lord, how you can please Him..but when you’re married, you have to also care about “things of the world”, how you may please your spouse. 1 Corinthians 7:32-34. I hope you can see the awesomeness in being single.

If you’re in a relationship, *smiley with the ❤ eyes”, I am happy for you 🙂 I hope you’re enjoying this season in your life. You should be! If not, take a step back and think about it. Are you where God wants you to be right now? He’s got your back so just go to Him.

A few more thoughts:

1. Ask God to choose your spouse for you, to give you eyes and a heart only for the one that he wants you to be with. I’ll be happy with whomever God chooses for me, He can do a much better job than I can haha. Yes, there are manyyy choices and you can make it work with more than one person, but I think there is a special someone God has called for you to be with to accomplish a purpose in His kingdom here together.

2. Ask God for what you want but also ask God to help you only desire what He has in store for you. Pray for your future wifey/hubby.

3. Pray about any relationship you’re thinking about beginning, ask God for confirmation. Asking someone to be your gf should be a big deal. (And girls, you pray too.) God should get all the glory from your relationship.

4. Stay pure. Y’all know what I mean here. If you’re not married, you have not entered a covenant relationship with each other…you don’t “belong” to each other yet. 1 Corinthians 7:2-4  You are a holy vessel, do you want to defile the things of God? 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 I know this is much easier said than done, but the strength to overcome temptation only lies in the Holy Spirit.  He loves us so much that He already forgave us and gave us this power to overcome when he died on the cross.

Love you all lots! God loves you so much more. Happy days 🙂

❤ Rinny

Life Is A Race. Run It To Win It!

Life is a race and we’re all running it to win it.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

How can you win if you don’t train properly? Different sports and positions require different types of training: strength training, endurance training, sprints, healthy diet, stretching…you get what I mean. Different workouts, different equipment for each of these things…it’s just like life. The various seasons of life brings you different lessons, the trials, the happiness.  Each experience you go through is for a reason. Even when you don’t realize it, you’re taking away something from every experience: wisdom, discernment, faith, forgiveness, etc. I just hope you’re learning the right things from everything you go through lol 🙂 Your workout IS life.

God wants to strengthen you with the tools to keep running faster and stronger. Train with the word daily and I think you’ll have a good chance of winning. Equip yourself with the right tools and you’ll have an even better chance of making it to the finish line strong. What are these tools? Besides the word and praying and having a relationship with Jesus and knowing Him for yourself, a few things that I think are important are:

– A clean heart and pure spirit, one that is forgiving and giving

– Surrounding yourself with good spiritual (God following, loving, fearing) leaders and friends, people that will hold you accountable. Ones who will encourage you as needed and discourage you in your wrong ways. You need peeps that keep it real!

– Give thanks, have faith, love, be positive

– Discipline. Staying focused on God. Lay aside your fleshly desires, resist temptations (esp ones that you’ll regret later). You can do it! — Matthew 6:33, 1 Corinthians 10:13

– Healthy diet: Stay hungry and thirsty for the word. Feed your spirit with truth and life, the Bible.

– Strength training: Trials you go through (fights with family, friends, career issues, death, relationships)

– Endurance/sprints: You’re never in it alone. First you have Jesus. Then, these leaders/friends mentioned above (and fam of course) are there to help you.

Of course there is a lot more, these are just a few that are top of mind for me. What do you think is most important? As you run this race called life, don’t forget to stay in your lane. You are only purposed to run your race, God has not called nor equipped you to run someone else’s. We all play different positions 🙂 Our goal shouldn’t be to beat each other, instead it’s to beat the negative influences, the bad, the wickedness that’s all around us.

What is winning? For me, it’s eternal life and living in His will, not by my own strength but through God and glorifying His kingdom. The sacrifices we make now are so little when we compare them to the everlasting blessings we are storing up.

Lots of love yall!

❤ Rinny

Having A Rough Day?

I always say that I LOVE it when my mom writes me and my sibs emails because she writes the best emails ever. This one in particular I have to share because it’s amazing might I say…and I think someone will take something away from this.

From the heart of my mommy:

Subject: It’s me!

I went out shopping today and I was tired when I came home, but refreshingly so, and when I took a deep breath, it actually felt so good. The problem was that I couldn’t pass a single person who I was drawn to without sharing something on this level.

Having a rough day? Place your hand over your heart. Feel that? That’s called purpose. You’re alive for a reason. Don’t give up. I went through a phase in life, wondering if I was ever going to find a purpose in life. What helped me was following my heart. Although, it didn’t always lead me to sunshine, it did always teach me a lesson along the way. Finding your purpose in life doesn’t happen over night, it’s a life-long journey.

So hang in there, and if you continue to believe that you’re here for a reason, then eventually you’ll understand your purpose in life. Look forward to how good that will feel and that will help you feel great today.

Knowing that you all know this, share at your own pace and from your own encouraged heart.

Andrea shared something with me yesterday…I thought I was aware of all the simple things.  She said that we live our lives comparing it to what we see and hear around us. We sometimes desire these things that are right for others and think they should be right for us now too.  We should learn to be happy for being our own wonderful selves, and more wonderful things will follow.

This totally hit home for me yesterday. Just want to add a scripture for ya, Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Also, check out John 15:16. God has a plan for you. Don’t forget your purpose 🙂

With lots of love,

❤ Rinny

Late Night Thinking…

Group think! Why do groups of young girls, teens, young ladies, grown women tend to choose someone to dislike, bring down, shoot down together?  I’m not sure I’ll ever fully understand…

This is so random but it was on my mind as I was getting ready for bed some time ago. I mentor a middle school girl who is smart, at the top of her class, well spoken, athletic, hard worker…etc. She’s focused and has set goals, her passions are so clear, its admirable. The stories she’s told me always shock me…girls want to fight her.

My advice to her: When you stand for something, are confident, won’t compromise your values or who you are for others, people feel threatened, annoyed, they want you to conform. You exhibit what they wish they had in them.

Speaking from experience, I’ve seen girls act crazy on other girls for no reason. None. And it never ceases to shock me. And I know people will say, “Well it’s not them, it’s her…why do people always have a problem with her?” Wrong. Look at the people saying that, usually they are intimidated, immature, feel inferior, want attention…one and/or all of the above.

Just remember,  everything happens for a reason. God put em in your life for a season and took em out for a reason. I’ve got a few stories of my own. Teaches you character, lessons learned, wisdom and knowledge gained. Don’t cling to things that aren’t meant to be. You won’t miss that “friendship” one bit.

If you walk with God, who can be against you? Romans 8:31 (I love Romans 8:28-31!) I think this goes for guys/men too even though its not always as blatant.

Y’all know I love open discussions soo share your thoughts 🙂

Dreams, Favor and Faith

Came across this on the web a few days ago…I love this.

I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favour in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.

In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.

– Henry David Thoreau

and think about this scripture with it:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Yeah, this is where my mind is today.