You are who you surround yourself with.

I've struggled a lot recently with the types of friends I have...who I'm surrounding myself with, yadda yadda yadda.

One of the verses that cleared up a lot of questions I had on this subject was:

"Bad company corrupts good morals." -1 Corinthians 15:33

 This may seem silly, but to be honest, I didn't really understand what this verse was truly saying until maybe 6 months ago.

As a child, I always thought, "When I'm a teenager I'm not going to make any silly mistakes. I'm going to hang out with the right crowd and I'm never going to do anything I regret."
Let me just say, I could not have been more wrong.

While I wish I could have held true to my original high expectations for myself, I must admit that I am human, and I have way more faults than I would like to admit to anyone.
However, my mistakes have made me more and more grateful for Jesus.

Most of my mistakes have unfortunately taken place because of the people I have surrounded myself with.
Now, I'm not saying that any of these people "MADE ME" do anything. Nobody "MAKES" anyone do anything because we all have our own minds and we are all capable of making our own decisions.
What I am saying, though, is that you choose what and who you surround yourself with.

If you befriend people that drink, for example, you are making a decision for yourself, that says it's okay to be around alcohol.
Next thing you know, your friends have persuaded you that it's not as bad as you think, and you begin to shut God out for a little while.
You think to yourself "The Bible only says not to get drunk."
And so you take a couple drinks, but you don't get drunk.
What you may have overlooked, is that the Bible also says, "Abstain from all evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:22.

So what you missed was right under your nose.
But you probably never even thought about it, because everyone else around you was doing it.
Obviously, I pulled that example from the top of my head but it's easily relate-able to many other subjects.

A good rule of thumb in my mind is, if they're not helping you get to heaven, it's probably not such a good idea to hang around them very much.

BUT you have to know who you are and who you want to be along with what morals and values you have.
Because not every one you meet in life that you don't necessarily agree with is avoidable.
(Which makes studying your Bible a good idea so you know what to believe, why to believe it, and how to explain to other people why you believe it ;))

If you're a teenager out there like me or even an adult, and you're still waiting around for good friends be patient.
PRAY PRAY PRAY.
I seriously thought I was never ever going to find any friends that had the same morals and values as I do, but as we all know, God's timing is perfect and he blessed me with a friend just like me.

Thanks for listening to me ramble about my jumbled thoughts today friends!
If you have any words of wisdom on how to wisely pick your friends, please leave them in the comments below!
I would love to hear them!

The Perfect Husband (probably doesn't exist).

But I do know that my perfect husband exists.

As a senior in high school, I am constantly surrounded by the pressures of my friends telling me to go towards certain boys and to do things that I know aren't right in general.

But I also watch them date boys very easily and I watch so many boys chase after them and often times I feel like I am all alone and no one wants to date me which leaves me feeling very unattractive and lonely. (Which let's be serious, I'm no supermodel but I know I'm not "ugly" either.)

I guess I should mention it's not that I haven't had the opportunity to date other boys, it's that I haven't met any that I would like to date or that I feel like I should date.

Let me give you the DL of my dating history. From the time I was a freshman until present day high school senior I have dated a total of 2 boys.
Yes you read that correctly, 2.

One of the relationships was a short fling but the other one was an on and off for 3 years very serious type of relationship. I mean, I honest to goodness thought that I was going to marry that boy.

It was towards the end of that relationship when things really starting heading downhill that I really learned that I am not the one that knows best for myself. Shocker right?
Even though I was so determined to be with this boy forever I started to realize that maybe this isn't the path I'm supposed to be on. I realized that maybe God put him in my story for a reason but maybe he wasn't "the one" for me.

As I started to question the relationship, that's when I really learned the meaning of trusting God. Kind of silly that it was over a boy of all things, but hey, whatever gets the job done. I remember laying in bed those last couple of months saying my prayers and just asking God to do whatever He thought was best. I knew that this may mean that I might suffer a loss of a huge part of my life but I didn't care. I knew he had a plan for me.

Sure enough, the relationship came to an end. I was shockingly more okay with this than I thought I would be. I was expecting to be absolutely heart broken like I was the first time he broke up with me, but I wasn't. I was just...okay. I had/have major faith that God would see me through it all. And He did. And He has. And He will.

I did learn a lot from that last relationship. Like what I want to be different in future relationships. I want:

• A follower of Christ.
• A gentleman. He is not crude or vulgar in any setting. He opens doors for me, pulls out my chair, etc.
• He not only prays for me, but with me.
• He desires to honor Christ in our relationship in every aspect. As well as his life.
• He takes me on actual dates.
• He is involved in his congregation. 
• He is supportive of me in whatever it is I choose to do.
• He is willing to listen to what's on my mind/bothering me. 
• He is funny but also capable of having a serious conversation.

And I refuse to settle for anything less. I would rather be happy and on my own than unhappy and in a relationship just for the sake of being in a relationship.

I will more than likely think of things later and add them to this list but for now I know that a relationship without God is no relationship at all and I don't want any part in it. I'll just have to be patient for the one God has saved for me.

What are some major things that you look for in a partner? Do tell ;)