Dating Part 2

Hey everyone! This week I want to continue talking about dating!

There are four stages in the process of dating. The first is going on planned activities with someone. This first stage is called dating. Like I mentioned in last weeks article, going on a date that is planned, paid for, and paired off. This gives us the best chance to have great dating experiences. I also believe going on many dates with different people is a great thing to do. Dating different people gives us an opportunity to look for attractive qualities the other person has, and discover what qualities we want in a spouse. 

The next step in the dating process is courtship. During this stage, we begin dating someone exclusively. We also look into the possibility of marrying that person. Another very important part of this step is to talk about the expectations of marriage. Who will have what role? How will we split chores? Who will handle the finances? It's important to really talk about our views of marriage in this stage. That way we won't run into unnecessary conflict in the marriage, because we will understand the other person's expectations and have an understanding of who's role is who's in the marriage. 

I also believe in this stage being open about issues about mental health or other issues like pornography addiction, or family issues etc. should be brought up, and should be working on fixing the issues.

The next step in this process is engagement. In this stage, both people have decided to get married. The man has already asked the girls father for permission and has gotten a ring. That is what I want personally, but doesn't happen so much in this day and age. Most importantly though both people have agreed to get married, and are planning a wedding at this stage. They are finalizing the steps they took in courtship. Mental health issues should be resolved, and it is very clear to the couple on whose role is who's and expectations are understood.

The final stage is marriage. In this stage, you are legally wed, and officially husband and wife. Now you will be working on the topics and roles that we discussed during courtship. We should be fulfilling the roles and working on building our relationship and working on becoming one. Making traditions, and working towards becoming one unit, and having a healthy marriage is very important in the first month of marriage. Building a life together, and growing together is part of this stage. It takes effort, hard work, and dedication, but when we do everything possible to meet the expectations set we can be very happy, and have a really happy life with our spouse. 

Let me know what you guys think of the topics this week! Feel free to leave comments, and get a discussion going! 

See ya next week!

Here are some different articles that talk about dating. Check them out!

Avoid Marrying a Jerk RAM Plan

https://byui.brightspace.com/content/enforced/428383-Campus.2018.Spring.FAML160/Van%20Epp-Avoid%20Marrying%20a%20Jerk%20-%20The%20RAM%20Plan.pdf

Hello, I Love You, Won't You Tell Me Your Name

https://byui.brightspace.com/content/enforced/428383-Campus.2018.Spring.FAML160/Van%20Epp-Hello,%20I%20Love%20You,%20Won%27t%20You%20Tell%20Me%20Your%20Name.pdf

Selecting a Life Partner 

https://byui.brightspace.com/content/enforced/428383-Campus.2018.Spring.FAML160/FAML%20160%2001,%2014/Lesson%2005-%20Preparing%20for%20Marriage/Lauer%20%26%20Lauer,%20Chapter%2007%20-%20Selecting%20a%20Life%20Partner.pdf

Have an awesome week!!