Yes, I am going to a dating conference.

If you were to ask me a week ago if I would ever go to a dating conference, I probably would've said "Heck. No." Times have changed. And no, I have not reached an all new level of desperation. I've just decided that my pride wasn't a good enough to excuse to miss out on what could be a really fun weekend. My church, Grace EV Free, La Mirada, is holding a singles conference/dating conference during the 2nd week of September. And as funny and ridiculous as this sounds, the elders of our church are dead serious. Yeah, it was their idea. Not the college group's, and not the "career age" group. The elders see the frustration within the increasingly large number of single people in the church and realized that it would be good to set up a conference revolving around the awkward and vexing world of "Christian Dating." I think that this is incredible. The leaders of our church are happily married but are sensitive enough to hear the groanings of their un-married brothers and sisters in Christ and want to do something to help. Now, I understand that many of you may not see the novelty of this idea. And that's ok. I didn't at first. But it has grown on me. I am increasingly impressed and encouraged by this church and their commitment to encouraging the body of Christ in any way that they can. This is the context in which we are having this dating conference/seminar.

And the elders do have a point. I mean, why has dating become so awkward? or so freaking complicated? Between boy-crazy, marriage-mad, overzealous, over-committed, "take things into my own hands" females and guys who either date too casually or have become cowardly in taking emotional risks and have settled for not taking any risks at all--expecting their future wife to be handed to them on a silver platter; Christian dating has come to a bitter and ugly stalemate. Something has gone very wrong. Today, after reflecting a little about problems Christian singles encounter when dating, my small group leader reminisced about a time when dating wasn't nearly so complicated: "If I liked a girl or was intrigued, I asked her out for a soda to get to know her better. No harm done." He also mentioned something about guys needing to "man up," and if a guy tried to confess that he had commitment issues (a generic term I'm choosing to use to encompass a plethora of other issues) then he would've "beat him up for being such a pansy." HAHA. I think he was kidding.

The timing of this dating conference is kind of...spot-on. At least it is for me. Maybe it is for a lot of people. Either way, I'm amazed, once again, at God's sovereignty. I'm learning that dating, as much as it is giggled about and/or sneered at, is a valid issue (no, duh?). We are relationship-oriented people (another, DUH). We live and learn through relationships. And most of us will get married someday and it's not like you can...grow your future spouse in your backyard and pick him/her when their ripe! And God wants to be involved in this process. This process involves our emotional and spiritual growth. And what's growth without a little (or a lot of) emotional risk? I think being able to discuss all these things with godly, well-rounded, respected leaders of our church will be a beneficial and healthy thing for the entire congregation. Especially the frustrated, yet content, single people :-)

Anyway, if you want to know more about the conference, you can do so HERE.

Oh and here's the trailer that they showed us last Sunday for this conference: