Holiday Lessons

Well, there's been a bit of a break between postings.  I'm using my recent vacation as an excuse, and totally ignoring any impact the laziness factor may have had.

I spent two weeks on vacation in Europe and learned some important lessons.  Like two weeks is too much time for me to spend alone.

One of my sisters noticed my Shopping post and asked whether my trip was to meet someone I had met in "The Store".  The quick answer is no, although on the advice of a friend, I did look in the European aisle of the store before I left, but didn't see anyone in the right areas of Europe.  I did, however, get hit on in Spain.  Normally I don't spend much time speaking to strangers on the street, but I think by this point in my vacation I was desperate for conversation, and rather excited to find someone who spoke English .  He was a nice enough man, but he kept wanting to hold my hand.  Now, there's nothing wrong with holding hands, but really, I had just met the guy!

We did have a nice chat, which he kept interspersing with comments about how nice and beautiful I am.  When he figured out that I was serious when I said I needed to know him much better before I would let him touch me, he left, after telling me I was basically overthinking things and should just listen to my instincts like he did.  Well, since my instincts (or maybe it's just my naturally suspicious nature) said he was just looking for some action.  As I was thinking about it later, I was able to more clearly explain (to myself, anyway) why I wouldn't hold hands with him.  It was not that I needed to know everything about him from where he went to school to what his favourite vegetable is.  The real thing I need to know about someone before I would let them touch me is that I will be safe with them, not just physically, but that my virtue would be safe.  That if I said stop, they would stop.  Or if I didn't say stop when I should have, they would stop anyway.  So if I ever get hit on by a stranger again, now I know how to explain it.

The second lesson I learned, or I should say, relearned, was from the scriptures.  I was reading 3 Nephi 23, where Christ is reminding the Nephites that everything the prophets have said, and everything the Lord has said, will be fulfilled.  It was a wonderful reminder that the Lord fulfills his promises, so as long as I am living properly, I don't need to worry about when I get married.  I don't need to stress about looking for a husband, I can just focus on living a righteous life, and God will make sure that things fall into place whenever they are supposed to.

Wearing Blinders

I was at a conference this weekend and was pleasantly surprised by the number of women.  Which is when it hit me, I work in a very male dominated industry - I've been swimming in a pool full of fish for seven years and haven't even noticed!  Well, I noticed there were fish, but I had automatically discounted them because I assumed that they were all non-members who drink too much alcohol (apparently quite common in the industry) and/or were married or in a relationship.

So, maybe it's time for me to take the blinders off and actually look at the fish swimming around me.  Although when I finally checked out the fish at the conference, they all seemed to be wearing rings.  (I know, fish don't have fingers, so how could they wear rings, right?  Just humour me here, pretend it works.)

I will try to do better at seeing what is right in front of me.  Because really, if I'm meeting them through work, as long as they are ringless, they would most likely meet all the rest of the criteria on the list.  Once they've passed that first check, then I can use Elder Hales' test on them.

Single members of the Church often ask, “How do I find the right person to marry?” Let me suggest an approach. Measure the spiritual level of your potential future companions. First, if they are members of the Church, are they active and fully committed, or are they passive or antagonistic? Second, if they are not members, are they receptive to the gospel and its teachings, or are they noncommittal or antagonistic?