A first date should be some where that facilitates conversation. Getting to know the person you are with is very important. Going to a park, having lunch, or simply going for a walk are good options.

Communication is the most important part of a relationship. One should be taken at face value. When a partner communicates it is not up to the other to make inferences. Clarification and reflection goes a long way. Many conflicts in relationships stem from a lack of adequate communication.

I have come to the understanding that being equally yoked involves more than my partner being Seventh-day Adventist. To be truly compatible our goals, lifestyles, ideas on child raising, ideas of an ideal marriage situation, ideas about extended family relationships and friends, etc. all need to be comparable. We don't have to be doubles of each other, but with compromise it should fit together neatly.

Another thing that I have learned is that God is the center of all relationships. If we as a couple do not put God first room for manipulation and selfishness is made. A requirement for my relationship is daily devotion as a couple. God needs to be in midst of the relationship guiding it.

I believe in the seventh-day sabbath and worship God according to his commands in addition to looking forward to his soon coming. This is the basic premise of all who considers themselves Seventh-day Adventist. After all, its explicitly stated in the name. In addition to this I have a relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We communicate daily through prayer, His word, and devotion. There is progress along this walk of sanctification. I can look back to last year and see that God truly is working in me to will and to do His good pleasure. As a Seventh-day Adventist I have a blessed hope, not just in the second coming, but in every situation that my Savior allows me to enter.

In the next five years I would like to be practicing as a nurse practitioner and have a fully functioning health ministry at the church I am attending.

My favorite Bible passage is Romans 8. Romans 6 talks about the goal of dying to self and living in Christ. Romans 7 talks about the struggle involved in accomplishing this goal. Romans 8 is the overcoming chapter. When life feels like it is beating me up and I'm not sure how much more I can take, Romans 8 is where I go. It reminds me that I am a conqueror in Christ Jesus and nothing can separate me from Him. It is such a humbling and exhilarating chapter. It is by far my favorite text.