Singles from Central Illinois gathered at beautiful Crossroads United Methodist Church on Friday night and found encouragement through the spirit-led worship, speaker Charles Klees, and a very special couple, Craig and Phillis, who met through a Cache' Connections event. We found it interesting, however, that it was give and take with the encouragement.
Many of the guests who came out were members from our first year, before we had the computerized matching system. At that time, we spent time on the phone with members, getting to know them in order to build their profile and make prospective connections. They knew us "back when." It was such a blessing to see many of them again, and to hear them say how pleased they are that Cache' Connections is growing and making a difference in lives. (Note how many lives were affected by Phillis and Craig's connection!) They encouraged us to stay the course and "keep doing what we're doing." (I love it when people say that :) We even heard of another local couple who married after meeting at one of our events!
Charles Klees, LCPC, and his wife Joyce encouraged singles to use godly wisdom in their approach to relationships, using this outline for levels of relationships:
• The first level is superficial involvement. This occurs in relationships where people interact in a casual manner and little investment in and absolutely no commitments to one another.
• Second level – is Companionship. A companion is a relationship where two persons associate for the purpose of sharing common activities. In companionship, the activity is more important than the person.
• Third level -- Friendship. In a friendship, it’s the reverse. Two people associate for the purpose of mutual support and enjoyment of each other.
• (*) Romantic love. This is a shared activity, friendship and chemistry is present. Romantic love has grown into trust and is a quiet understanding and mature acceptance of imperfection. This is a friendship which has caught fire. It’s not based on sex.
(*) Marriage. Romantic love emerges into a functional association with the other person. As you begin to share your life with that other person, you make commitments in the real world to meet each other’s physical, emotional, and social needs.
When you look at building relationships this way, you begin to realize that normal people do not get married in a very short amount of time. That’s not healthy. At any rate, before you plunge into a human relationship with expectations that can never be met, build a solid foundation with Christ. Internalize His Peace, His rest, His joy. Allow Him to meet the needs that even the most ideal man or woman on earth will never be able to meet. Then you can approach dating and marriage from a position of fullness rather than emptiness, from a state of satisfaction rather than desperation.
As usual, there was something for everyone to take away from this event, including maybe a tasty homemade cookie for the road! Our heartfelt thanks go to Crossroads UMC, S.O. who took the reins within the church, all of the volunteers and musicians, and to all of the singles who took a step of faith and came out for this event. Our prayer is that each of you will be blessed for your involvement.
~ Linda
Cache' Connections
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