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Far Above Rubies

If I understand what you're saying correctly, it's essentially "don't be too picky and miss your opportunity while doing so?"
If you recognize that I'm saying it generally to not only single women but to married men seeking plural marriage as well, you're understanding me correctly. I have no problem with people being picky, but I also believe those who are too picky have no one but themselves to blame if their desire to be married is never fulfilled. Being picky is entirely righteous, but any too-picky individual who complains that life is unfair or that society is stacked against them or that the only available potential spouses are bullies or bitches is simply wrong. Those are the types of results that can always be predicted for those who are too picky, and it's legitimate to then label the person who is too picky but doesn't want to accept the outcome as (a) having overinflated his or her value in the marketplace, and (b) preferring the very loneliness he or she claims is unfair more than he or she prefers engaging in needed self-analysis.

Note that I made my statements very general. I don't know you personally, @LovesDogs, and I won't assume that the snapshots of you included in your forum threads participation create an accurate enough impression of who you are to make me believe I could direct any of the above to you specifically, but I do stand by what I've written as accurate generalizations. Generally speaking, people get exactly what they want, so the best way for a person to transparently make an accurate assessment of what he or she wants is to just look around: "What do I have in my life? Not just what belongings but more importantly what relationships?" What one sees in answer to those questions is a pretty darn accurate reflection of what one wants. If one claims to want something or some type of relationship, and it's not only nowhere to be found but very little evidence exists that one is turning over every stone to make it happen in the foreseeable future, then one is only lying to oneself by asserting that one wants it. There has to be some kind of evidence.

I challenge myself along these lines all the time, too, so don't think I'm just sitting here judging others. I haven't had two women in my life at the same time since 1993. Twenty-nine years is a lot of evidence that I clearly don't want plural marriage badly enough. I declared about 8 years ago that I intended to persuade my wife of its legitimacy and 6 years ago declared that I was actively seeking it. Since then I think it's safe to assert that I've cycled through various crises of conscience in the process, reassessed my original wish list too many times to count, and lowered my expectations tremendously -- to the point that not only do I no longer seek partners but am very cautious about even expressing interest when someone seems to have dropped into my life. Clearly, there is more work to go before I'm either a plural husband or formally give up on it altogether, but what has been altogether clear to me has been that I needed to lower my expectations.
 
My dear husband wasn't seeking a second wife. After a near miss ten years ago he had zero interest in meeting anyone online and trying to get to know someone that was not local. He said ten years ago he felt he had a better chance of something working out organically in real local life then trying to seek or start a relationship in cyber land.

This was not something he (or we) tried to make happen. He hired her as a secretary for the business. Last year she thought she could learn to bid jobs and asked to ride along. That was when they got to visiting, and he found out she had a lot of common interests relating to lifestyle choices. He talked to our second son about her, as he would never have crossed the professional line if he had been interested in her. As it turned out, over the last year of spending Saturdays with our family, she came to appreciate the whole family....so when the man finally decided to settle the matter and asked her to go hiking (halfway expecting to be turned down) she said yes. Once they started talking everything changed. Ya can't get heart to heart with someone and keep them at arm's length.

If you are open to the idea because you believe it can be good, then trust God to work His will in your life.

Like they have said here...get busy doing what God wants....and if and when you need help with your mission/business/ministry/family, He can provide.
I'd have said I needed help a long time ago...but I'm not complaining.
 
Yes. I know this upsets a lot of the patriarchal men on this site but the reality is that no woman including their wives has to submit to them just because it's in the Bible. This is especially true if they want to add a woman to their family.

What I mean here is as a woman choosing this life comes with great personal sacrifice especially if you're going to be a plural.

The man you do this for has to be more than just an average man or else why make this sacrifice? Why not just marry an average man and have him to yourself?
It seems to me that this statement is mixing the theoretical, purely theological best practices most of the patriarchal men here are speaking about with the practical lives experience of an American woman.

Many of the men are speaking about what they (and I) think should be and you are dealing more in what is.
 
Perzechly.
 
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