God, Girls, and Guys

Marsh Robin

Description

Following their popular devotional for teen girls, God, Girls, and Getting Connected, award-winning news anchor Robin Marsh, and Miss America 2007, Lauren Nelson, now help young women shape a healthy, biblical perspective on dating, emotions, and love.With humor, Christ-centered counsel, and straight-talk to girls, Robin and Lauren share openly about their early dating misconceptions and their discovery of God's Word as the best guide for every girl. Personal stories and relevant chapter topics encourage and empower young women to make smart, godly choices.What is love?How do I become the girl God wants me to be?What does godly dating look like?How far is too far? What's he really thinking?Does a perfect guy or perfect relationship exist?This fresh resource honors the dreams and questions of today's girl with a clear look at God's hope for their heart.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 août 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736945240
• Langue: English

Extrait

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Italics in Scripture quotations indicate authors emphasis.
Robin Marsh and Lauren Nelson are represented by Working Title Agency, LLC, Spring Hill, TN.
Backcover author photo by gfellerstudio.com
Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota
Some names and minor details have been changed in the real-life stories shared in this book to protect the privacy of the individuals mentioned.
GOD, GIRLS, AND GUYS
Copyright 2012 by Robin Marsh and Lauren Nelson
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Marsh, Robin, 1964-
God, girls, and guys / Robin Marsh and Lauren Nelson with Kelly King.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7369-4523-3 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4524-0 (eBook)
1. Man-woman relationships-Religious aspects-Christianity. 2. Man-woman relationships-Biblical teaching. 3. Dating (Social customs)-Religious aspects-Christianity. 4. Teenage girls-Sexual behavior. 5. Teenage girls-Religious life. I. Nelson, Lauren, 1986- II. King, Kelly. III. Title.
BT705.8.M37 2012
241 .66408352-dc23
2012001365
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Contributing Writer

Kelly King s special touch as a contributing writer helped make God, Girls, and Guys a great resource to help teens navigate the often tumultuous world of dating and relationships. She s also reached out to teens for more than 25 years by teaming up with her husband, Vic, to work with the youth in their local church. Kelly has published numerous articles, discipleship materials, and student ministry curricula. She currently serves as women s specialist for the Baptist General Convention in Oklahoma, where she encourages women to embrace and echo God s heart. Kelly, Vic, and their college-aged children enjoy hiking and fishing.
Acknowledgments
Kelly, thank you for your hard work, wisdom, and willing heart to see lives changed. We love you and are so grateful for your help in making this book happen.
Thank you, Bill Reeves, for your insights and ability to answer all our questions. We appreciate having you for a literary agent.
The Harvest House team -especially Bob Hawkins, LaRae Weikert, Hope Lyda, and Barb Gordon-we thank you for your support in our vision to see lives changed by helping people know the Lord.
Dr. Alan Day, Dr. Michael Catt, Dr. Anthony Jordan, and Dr. Ted Kersh -we appreciate your lifework as pastors to help us and so many others come to know the life-changing power found in the Word of God. Thank you for your support and encouragement in our ministry to share God s Good News with teens.
And, most important, to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You are our everything. We pray this book brings glory and honor to You.
CONTENTS
Contributing Writer
Acknowledgments
Ah, Love
The L Word
Mirror, Mirror of My Heart
Evolution of Dating
Boy Friends and Boyfriends
Finding Mr. Right
Tears, Fears, and Drama-Oh My!
How Far Is Too Far?
I ve Messed Up, Now What?
The Label to Avoid
Reality TV Dating v. Real-Life Dating
The One Man Who Will Never Let You Down
Small Group Leader s Guide
Notes
About Robin
About Lauren
Unveiled Ministries
A H , L OVE ...
I t s not an accident this book has landed in your hands. God has you reading this for a reason. Maybe you picked it up because you re curious about guys and what makes them tick. Perhaps you ve been praying about how to have a godly relationship. Maybe your mom or grandmother gave you this book because they would love to pour wise advice about guys into your head. In their quest to impart wisdom, they may figure if you don t listen to them, you might read this. Plus it might avoid those awkward mother-daughter dating talks.
Whatever the reason or however you got the book, God s Word has a lot to say about relationships. Our hope is that through reading this book and examining God s Word, you will fall in love with the Lord Jesus. We pray that you will come to know the Savior in a deeper, more intimate way. Through a closer relationship with the heavenly Father, we believe your earthly relationships will be healthier and stronger.
So let s get started by introducing ourselves.
Robin Marsh: I m the mom of a young man named Cade, and my husband, Keith, is the love of my life. I ve gone through the joys of relationships, and before I met Keith, I experienced some pretty dark hours as a serious relationship broke up. In the midst of good and bad, God has been incredibly faithful to me. He s given me a passion to share my story, along with the truths I ve learned, and, more importantly, I get to share His story with you.
I ve been in the television news broadcasting business for almost 30 years. My alarm clock goes off each weekday morning at 3:00 (yes, a.m.!), and I make my way to work at the CBS affiliate KWTV-News 9 in Oklahoma City to anchor the morning news. It s an exciting career because every day is different.
I never dreamed how my life would change after I was assigned to interview Miss America in 2007. Her name is Lauren Nelson.
Lauren Nelson: Most people know me because I was privileged to wear the Miss America crown in 2007. I met Robin when she interviewed me, and since then our friendship has blossomed. She s mentored me professionally and spiritually. She even introduced me to my husband!
Randy and I have been married for several years. We don t have any children yet, but we plan to. We live in Oklahoma City.
I am also in the television news business, and I currently anchor the afternoon newscast on KWTV-News 9.
God has given me a love for helping girls understand their true identity in Christ. As this passion has increased, so have opportunities to serve. In the past year I ve confirmed what God was doing in my heart by totally giving my life to Him. Through this commitment, God has opened doors for me to share His love and life-changing message with you and other girls.
Our friendship and ministry: We are great friends who share an enthusiasm to minister to teen girls. We enjoyed writing our first book for teens, God, Girls, and Getting Connected, and it s helping a lot of girls find answers to questions about life, faith, and relationships . In God, Girls, and Guys we answer questions you have about dating and cover a lot of issues surrounding dating relationships, including how it is a reflection of your relationship with Christ.
We examine a lot of truths without throwing a lot of do s and don ts at you. We ve also included some of our personal stories to give you a glimpse of who we are. We share the good choices we ve made as well as some of the ones we wish we could take back.
Our desire is to encourage you. Our prayer is that you will begin to rely more and more on God to guide your relationships. We know that without a relationship with Him and His guidance, no guy/girl relationship can be solid.
We want you to know that we re far from perfect. We ve had our share of guy disasters, but we survived them. And, thankfully, we re both married to really terrific, godly husbands.
One more thing: We re not psychologists who have guys totally figured out. (Is there anyone who has?) The topic of guys triggers a lot of questions for girls and women because, just like us, no two guys are alike. However, what we ve found is that there is a great resource for ultimate wisdom and truth-God s Word. We love God s stories about relationships and what we can learn from them. While dating isn t a concept we find in the Old Testament, we do find great examples of relationships throughout the entire Bible that we can look to for guidance. Some of the stories are beautiful love stories. Some of them contain abuse and heartache. Fortunately, we can learn from both.
Our Journey with You
We ve found in looking at other books that while some Christians offer great advice, there s no better way to find wisdom than digging into God s Word.
At the end of each chapter you ll find some personal reflection questions to help you take the step from reading the words on the page to applying them to your life. The questions aren t tests to see whether you ve read the chapter. They are ways for you to think about the information on a deeper and more personal level.
We ve included a Small Group Leader s Guide at the end of the book that you ll find helpful if you study this book with other girls and a leader. We encourage you to find a female youth leader or mentor who will be your on-site relationship mentor. Even though we look at this book as our journey with you, there s great value in having a woman you can call or text when you need to talk or get specific guy guidance.
As an additional resource, we encourage you to check out our Website: www.withunveiledfaces.com . This way we can interact with you- even when you re finished reading this book.
My friend, we are praying for you as we begin this journey. We re excited about discovering what God wants to reveal about Himself and guys!
T HE L W ORD
WHAT IS LOVE?