Prerequsites for a Spiritual Partner

1. 100% sold out to God: a believer in Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and lives his life accordingly. puts God first above ALL things. Willing to be the spiritual leader of the household, my prayer partner, and serve God right by my side. Also willing to be my spiritual protector here on earth. Will love me as Christ loves the Church. Willing to filter our relationship through what God's word says regarding relationships, & concerning being equally yoked together.
2. Honest, has high ethics, a man of integrity, sincere, respectful, a true gentleman, understanding, & compassionate.
3. Financially and emotionally stable; responsible and accountable for his actions, and not afraid to admit when he makes a mistake.
4. Needs to have good hygiene, dresses nice, (can be comfortable dressing nice casually or formally) Neat in appearance, can be bald or with hair, looks are not as important as the heart.
5. Attractive to me; huggable, loving, kind hearted, generous, a good sense of humor, communicates well, and able to articulate and express his feelings openly.
6. Is part of an awesome church family.
7. Loves and accepts my family (children and grandchildren) and is a lover of animals and the outdoors.
8. Only has eyes for me, when we are at a commitment level, & accepts and loves me as I am unconditionally.
9. Supports and shares my interests and passions.
10. Will not leave me or forsake me.

So, there you have it, in a nutshell. I am a point in my life where I am not desperate or needy for love, but would like to find a sincere Christian man to share my life with. I do have a  huge heart and a lot of love to give, however, God is #1 in my life. I am saying this, because there are areas where I will not compromise (finding a man of God, honest, sincere. etc.) I am pretty direct and upfront, and am willing to wait to find the special person God has for me, without compromising on what's truly important to me. And if they just happen to sing or play a musical instrument, that would be an added blessing!

Searching For A Spiritual Partner

For those of you who are currently searching for a spiritual partner, I have created a guideline to assist you and to help you go about in a Christ centered way.

1. First of all, above all else, before you even begin your search, PRAY about it. Pray and ask God if you are ready to take the next next step in looking for a spiritual partner. When you pray, ask for for God's to search YOUR heart to see what is the motivating factor for your search. Are you lonely or are you seeking someone to rescue you from a place of emotional or sexual neediness? Ask God for HIS discernment to reveal the secret motives of your heart, and ask HIM to guide you by HIS Spirit. This means not just being physically, or sexually attracted to someone (lust), or just having emotional chemistry, or any other feelings that are simply those of the flesh, rather than spirit led.
2. Secondly, PREPARE your own heart. This is huge and so critical. Many times we are searching for someone, while we ourselves are emotionally wounded; seeking another person to "save us" or complete, or to make us whole. Many people search for someone to fulfill them, when they need to seek fulfillment first from God, and realize who they are in Him. Often times, we see people seeking a mate out of their own neediness, thinking foolishly, that when they meet "Mr. or Mrs. Right;" that person will complete or fulfill them. WRONG! Two broken, fragmented people together, does not equal a whole, healthy, relationship. Whatever trauma, emotional, or physical wounds that have occurred in our past, (either from relationships or even carried over from childhood) that have not been completely healed, will become excess baggage & drama, and will eventually flair up in any future relationship in a negative way, causing heartache, pain and devastation. It is so critical for each individual to take a deep and thorough look at themselves, and search for for any areas of brokenness that has not been completely healed. Often, old wounds are so deeply hidden beneath the surface, and people never take the time to open up and examine the areas of brokenness, because they do not want to experience and face the pain associated with them. However, until we face them head on and deal with them, these old wounds will continue to fester deep within us until they create some devastating consequences. Getting to the root of our hurt, pain, and dysfunction and bringing it to the surface so that God can heal us of the pain, is the only way we will become whole enough and be spiritually healed so that we will be able to form a good, healthy, Christian relationship with someone new. If we do not address the core of our drama and excess baggage in our own individual lives, it will definitely create problems in any future relationships.
3. Thirdly, the next thing we need to do is PRIORITIZE. We cannot find the best spiritual partner until we sit down and write down what characteristics we are desiring in a partner. It's like setting off on a trip without a road map. It's very important to make a list of the characteristics and traits that you are specifically looking for in a mate. If you are not specific in the type of person you are looking for, you are more apt to quickly settle for someone out of desperation and neediness, not out of being focused on what traits God desires for someone to have in order for you to have an awesome, spiritually grounded partner. Make sure you do not settle or compromise on the most important, critical, & spiritual traits you desire in a mate, but also realize that there is no perfect human here on earth. The only perfect one, died on a cross two thousand years ago, to save us from our sins.
4. Fourthly, the next step is to PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE! If you have done the necessary work on preparing yourself, prioritizing what you are looking for, the next step is a big one; you have to make yourself available so that others will recognize that you are ready and receptive to receive love into your heart and life. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. A person of quality and of spiritual character will recognize if you are ready or not, and you will too. If you are in a constant state of prayer and spiritual discernment, it will become quite easy to weed out those people who do not meet your list of characteristics, or who are too emotionally needy or spiritually immature.
5. The fifth step is to PROTECT YOUR HEART. Be cautious, and be aware that there are many PREDATORS that will try to use, control, and manipulate you. Guard your heart and mind, and ask God for a hedge of PROTECTION to surround your heart and mind, to keep you safe.
6.  The sixth step is to PERSEVERE. Keep looking, keep networking, and let your best friends know that you are looking for someone. You never know when or where, that special someone will show up, so be ready and keep your eyes open for chance encounters that could possibly be a divine appointment, or serendipity!
7. The seventh step is PATIENCE. Anything worth having is worth waiting for. Take your time, don't give up, and let time do it's work.
8. The eighth step is to PAY ATTENTION! If you sense something is off or not right in a relationship, be able to recognize a red flag when you see it, and don't think it is a circus or a parade. Listen to your gut, your heart, and mostly to discernment from God. If your heart says no, run away and don't look back, don't second guess yourself about what you are feeling. Don't question yourself, or feeling guilty for recognizing a red flag. Just let them go, period.
9. The ninth step is PRAY again and again and again! Never underestimate the power of prayer. Seek God's will in every relationship, and line it up according to the scripture. In order to have a true spiritual, God sent relationship, put God in the direct center of all you do. Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Our hearts can be fickle, our emotions and feelings can be misguided, but when we allow everything and every relationship to be filtered through the lens of God's word, HE will direct our paths, plus HE will give us the desires of our hearts. Psalms 37:4
10. The tenth step is to ask for God's Peace. If you feel that God has sent you a Godly, spiritual partner, ask HIM for peace and confirmation that you are indeed in God's will. There is nothing sweeter than walking in God's will.
11. The eleventh step is to avidly seek God for HIS PERFECT WILL IN YOUR LIFE. Too many times we settle for less than what God's perfect will has in store for us. We desire something so desperately, that we justify it into being God's will for us. When we do this, we are simply acting in God's permissive will, NOT HIS PERFECT WILL FOR US! Oh, that we never settle, or compromise for anything less than God's Perfect will for us.
12. Finally the twelfth step is once we find that special spiritual partner, we should PRAISE GOD for providing them for us! Have a heart full of love and gratitude that we have sought God's will for us, and the payback will be PRICELESS!!