A Letter to My Daughter
Tom Stein on the Seven L's of Husband-Hunting
Dear Emily, Your mother's father used to say, "Marry in haste, repent in leisure." Perhaps he was too cynical, but his saying contains wisdom. Your generation takes a rather leisurely approach to marriage, but most will one day "fall in love" and ponder whether to marry.
A Christian parent prays first for the salvation of his children, then for his children to find godly spouses. I suppose we pray this way because we know the abundant opportunities and formidable obstacles of marriage. If you marry in haste, you may indeed repent for the rest of your life. You should marry a Christian man. This is necessary, but not sufficient. A man may profess faith in Jesus but live a godless life. Setting aside external appearances and internal butterflies, what should you seek? I offer you seven questions.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
Tom Stein is the Associate Pastor of Chapel Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Beaver, Pennsylvania, and an instructor in the adult degree program at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He has previously served churches in Minnesota and Indiana. He has been married to his wife Beth Ann for 33 years, and they have three adult children.
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on family from the online archives
23.1—January/February 2010
It’s Bent on Bringing Down the House on the Family & the Church by Douglas Farrow
33.2—March/April 2020
Encounters with Faith & Forgiveness in Communities of Faith by Nicole M. King
more from the online archives
34.1—January/February 2021
What the World Needs Now It Hardly Knows by Anthony Esolen
24.5—Sept/Oct 2011
A Critical Memoir of Thomas Merton at Gethsemani Abbey by Patrick Henry Reardon
31.1—January/February 2018
The Wisdom of the Victorian Quest for Innocence by David Sandifer
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
