The devil made me do it. I swear.

I randomly got a flier in the mail from a Baptist church for a relationship course targeted at "Newlyweds, Nearly-weds and Seriously Dating" couples and I took it as a sign. The boyfriend was receptive to trying it out with me, so we've been going the past few weeks. The topics each time range from having a relationship based on faith, dealing with finances, in-laws, communication, romance and all that kind of stuff. It has been pretty good and I'd say it has already made a positive impact on our relationship.

Yesterday was "Building a Foundation of Faith" and we talked about what cracks in the foundation of a building mean and what that looks like in a relationship, etc. (Since it is put on by a Baptist church, there is lots of scripture involved, which is a little embarrassing because it always takes me longer than everyone else to find the right page.) Yesterday we focused on Philippians 4: 4-9, which says:

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

The key points of discussion were:

BE GENTLE AND CONSIDERATE (verse 5)

DO NOT BE ANXIOUS OR WORRIED (verse 6)

MAKE IT A HABIT and BE TEACHABLE (verse 9)

Well, I guess that the boyfriend and I were getting too good at these things and the devil didn't like it, so he decided to test me. And I failed miserably! To make a long story short, there was a situation in which I was neither gentle nor considerate, I was full of worry and doubt, and I had no desire to learn anything from this particular experience. I spent the entire day being upset. It didn't occur to me until I laid my head down to go to sleep that my behavior that day was the EXACT OPPOSITE of everything that we had talked about that very morning. And I realized that I was totally letting the devil win. He does not want me to be happy, he does not want us to have a relationship based on faith, he does not want us to succeed – and I was playing right into his hand. The instant I realized that, I was no longer upset. I felt calm and peaceful (and a bit stupid.)

So devil, you can take your ugliness, worry and fret and STUFF IT! It might have taken me a little while to wise up your wily ways, but I'm on to you now.