“No, it wasn't easy! For everybody, it doesn't matter what background you come from, you want to be married and you have desires that God places in your heart for a reason. So it's not like you're immune to those feelings just because you choose a different route. There were times when I was wondering, ‘Am I ever going to get married?’ You can be sixteen and wonder that!" Jill laughs. “You're not immune to it!”
(Livy) “So what did you do to encourage yourself when you got down in the dumps about being single?”
“My parents encouraged me to create a list of character qualities that I was looking for in my future spouse, (which I wrote in the back of my journal), and also to pray for my future spouse. At times when I was struggling in my thinking about guys, and I needed to NOT be thinking in that direction, I would shift my focus and really focus in on the Lord.
But when I needed to be thinking about them, and I needed to focus on them in a positive way, I would write this list in the back of my journal. And I wasn't really faithful to journal all the time, but I would write down character qualities that I wanted in a future husband. Just different things that I saw in Godly men that I admired, like in preachers, or different things that I might see and think, ‘Oh that is a really good quality
"You hear about these perfect courtships and these perfect love stories, but I never want any girl to think that it's going to be this perfect thing, and how you're just going to know right away. For me, it was more of a process. You really have to seek Godly counsel, pray, read your Bible, and then if you still don't know, just repeat those things. Pray, read your Bible, and seek Godly counsel from those who do the same thing. There's not always going to be this sign in the sky that says, 'This is the one for you!' So I think that's just another practical piece of encouragement. It's a process. And
it's okay to be afraid."