Knights and Fair Maidens - Part II

 

Set number one of a knight and two fair maidens.

Set number two of a knight and two fair maidens.

I am in the middle of raising a group of Knights and Fair Maidens, and part of that journey is going to be through courtship, rather than traditional dating.

For more on how our family got here, I mean to courtship, go back and read Knights and Fair Maidens - Part I.



So, how do you do court in 2012?

Especially when there are thoughts out there, like: How will you know they are the right one if you don't date around? What is wrong with dating if you meet another nice Christian in your youth group? Or even, taking it to the next level.....How will you know you are sexually compatible unless you go to bed with them?

How do you court in 2012....and beyond?

If you read Part I of this series, you know the thought process that went into our decision to not have our children date, but pursue courtship.

The problem was, once that decision was made, none of us really knew what it meant.  Rainman, D-man, and I sat down and tried to come up with a list of rules and what it really meant, but we stumbled and didn't really know what we were doing.  We didn't even really know how to tell people about it.  It doesn't really come up very casually in conversations.

This is where the next book I received to review comes in.

Of Knights and Fair Maidens by Jeff and Danielle Myers and published by Grace and Truth Books led us clearly to all of the answers we needed.

Can we just talk about God being thematic with me again for a moment?

From Grace and Truth's website talking about the book:

Jeff and Danielle were determined to do things differently. So, before the era of "True Love Waits" or the writing of I Kissed Dating Goodbye, they interviewed married couples to discover the keys to a successful courtship. They applied these principles in their own relationship and later, wrote this humorous, heart-warming book. 15 years later, they have re-released an updated version of this classic, which has given tens of thousands of young couples honest and straightforward counsel about the best way to prepare for marriage.

"Jeff and Danielle prove that God's plan for relationships is not out of date or old-fashioned - it's for the adventurous, courageous and most importantly, romantic Christian single who wants God's best in relationships and marriage."
-- Joshua Harris, Senior Pastor, Covenant Life Church, Gaithersburg, MD and author of well-known books on courtship

Did you catch that? They mention the book again. There is a quote by the author of the book.

So, here is what I loved, loved, loved about the book, Of Knights and Fair Maidens.

It tells us how to do courtship in 2012, not 1912.

The Myers tell about the way they met each other, how they decided that God had a different way of coming together in mind for Christians, other than dating. With....get this....an article....written by an 18 year old.....Joshua Harris before he wrote the book Kiss Dating Goodbye!

The best part is they give specifics on how it can be done, how to get parents involved, what to say if someone asks you out on a date, and even ideas on what to do when you are trying to get to know someone better.

Real. Specific. Usable stuff. Real life examples.

In a really small (about 100 pages) hardcover book. A super easy read. It is an interview style book with questions and then answers given by both Jeff and Danielle. The original article that Joshua Harris wrote, and they both read (separately) which started them on the path to courtship, is included at the back of the book.

Jeff is now president of Summit Ministries. Go take a look at that organization and see what they are up to. Look at Jeff and Danielle and their family. They don't look Amish or old fashioned. They are cool. They are hip. They hike in the mountains with their four kids. She even wears pants.


You can get a copy of Knights and Fair Maidens for $9.75 or an ebook version for $6.50. If you want to start with more of the "why?" behind courtship, where I did, with Joshua Harris' Kiss Dating Goodbye, they sell that too.

Grace and Truth Books  has free shipping on orders of $49or more (if you are thinking Chistmas stuff yet) and has a Scratch and Dent and a Bargain section that is worth spending some time digging around in.

Grace and Truth Books gave the review crew some other books to review on different topics. Take a look and see what books they read and what they thought.


Disclaimer:  I received a copy of Of Knights and Fair Maidens for free, in exchange for an honest review.