Jewels & Junk

Did you ever wonder why Hollywood has churned out so many "chick flicks" successfully?  I honestly believe there are so many movies about two "good" people finding each other and true love is because there is an appalling lack of "good" people out there in the single scene.  This predicament isn't a modern day novelty at all.  This has been true since before film was created.  Think about these words:   An excellent wife who can find?  She is far more precious than jewels. (Proverbs 31:10esv)  Translation: you've got a better shot at stumbling upon a diamond in your back garden than you do of finding a virtuous wife....or husband.
Seriously though, think about the process of finding jewels.  You have to do a lot of mining, digging, and sifting before you find anything...IF you find anything.  Most of what you'll find in the dating scene is stuff you just need to throw out.  The other deterrent is that you're more likely to find "fools gold" than the real deal.  How true is that in the single life?!  You can think you've found someone great who really has a heart for God, and then he/she turns out to be a fraud.  It's so disheartening.  This is why it's important to not only get to know someone BEFORE dating them, but also have people that you respect in the church advising you. Some of you have in the past asked your friends/peers check a person that you were interested in.  While that is good, why would you ask directions to the big city from someone who's never been there?  Ask someone in your church that you respect who is already happily married, someone who's already been where you are and made it out to the other side.  If you found something that looked like real gold, you'd take it to someone who actually knew what they were talking about to determine whether or not it was real and what it's value was.
Should you just give up hope?  No, I believe it to be the biblical normative to get married.  In many circumstances, it may be that you're digging too soon.  Perhaps, your gem hasn't matured yet or you're digging in the wrong fields.  Maybe you don't have the skills necessary for the whole mining process yet.  Have you consulted your guide book (Bible...oooh, that was obvious)?  This is just one of those times where patience is an ally. I'm not sure where I was going with this....I was interrupted no less than six times while trying to get this out of my brain before it was lost forever as parts of it already are gone...you'll understand when you're older lol