I have a few friends here where I live who are men whose ages range from their late thirties to just under 50 who have never married. They are all believers. One of them worked with some kind of ministry organization before and now has a really good job in IT. Another owns his own business and lives in a really expensive apartment building. Another one has worked low paying jobs for much of his life, isn't much of a decision maker, but since his mother passed, he earned a pretty sizeable inheritance apparently tied up in trusts probably. And another has a good job. They are all Christians.
These men all want to marry younger women. The oldest one is interested in a woman up to her late 30's. The man in his late thirties is looking for a 27 year old or so, but would be interested in a woman up to 33 years of age. The reason most of them mention is children. Of course, men can have kids up until their 60's, but women have a narrower window of time.
My wife has a lot of friends in her country, where it is socially acceptable to marry a western man, and a lot of young women find that desirable. So when she meets godly single men, she thinks of her unmarried friends back home and other places, and will ask if they want her to introduce them to someone. So far, no marriages or relationships, as far as we know, have started up, beyond one phone call someone told us about.
I have a friend who is an evangelist and church planter of Indian descent. I don't know how many churches he has started in India, Russia and the Ukraine, and various other places. He was in his 50's, and his wife passed away many years ago. After that, my wife and I started thinking he might be a good match for this nice-looking, God-fearing woman we knew in her fourties who was also Indian who loved to disciple young women. Neither of them were from India. They were from the same little country, though. So we tried to match them up, but she was kind of scared about it. She even said she didn't see how their ministries would match together. I was thinking, you've got to be kidding. It seemed to me a perfect match in terms of ministry. But later she said she was gifted with celibacy and found peace with that.
After some time, we got an email from our evangelist friend with a big JPEG attached of a nice-looking Russian or Ukrianian 30-year-old woman, where he was joyfully announcing his engagement, and I guess showing how God had blessed him. He went back to the Ukraine or Russia to do a seminar for the churches started through his ministry, and this young woman sensed the Lord telling her they were to be married. One thing led to another, and I guess he proposed to her, perceiving it was from the Lord. He badly wanted and needed to be married again.
We've been in different countries, and have talked through Skype or email a few times. I'd really like to Skype him to see what's going on. The couple seems happy. They are planting churches and ministering in my wife's home country, now. They have had two or three kids since them. He had a three, I think, from his first marriage.
I can see benefits to marrying close in age. But there are also benefits to women marrying older men. In some cases, finances is a good reason. Older men can be a bit more stable. They can also be a bit more mature in terms of taking responsibility and figuring out what they want to be and what they want to do. Of course, leaving a young widow is a big downside. So is needing care, and having less energy for a wife who is still younger.
Anyone up for a discussion of the benefits and disadvantages of age differences in marriage?
These men all want to marry younger women. The oldest one is interested in a woman up to her late 30's. The man in his late thirties is looking for a 27 year old or so, but would be interested in a woman up to 33 years of age. The reason most of them mention is children. Of course, men can have kids up until their 60's, but women have a narrower window of time.
My wife has a lot of friends in her country, where it is socially acceptable to marry a western man, and a lot of young women find that desirable. So when she meets godly single men, she thinks of her unmarried friends back home and other places, and will ask if they want her to introduce them to someone. So far, no marriages or relationships, as far as we know, have started up, beyond one phone call someone told us about.
I have a friend who is an evangelist and church planter of Indian descent. I don't know how many churches he has started in India, Russia and the Ukraine, and various other places. He was in his 50's, and his wife passed away many years ago. After that, my wife and I started thinking he might be a good match for this nice-looking, God-fearing woman we knew in her fourties who was also Indian who loved to disciple young women. Neither of them were from India. They were from the same little country, though. So we tried to match them up, but she was kind of scared about it. She even said she didn't see how their ministries would match together. I was thinking, you've got to be kidding. It seemed to me a perfect match in terms of ministry. But later she said she was gifted with celibacy and found peace with that.
After some time, we got an email from our evangelist friend with a big JPEG attached of a nice-looking Russian or Ukrianian 30-year-old woman, where he was joyfully announcing his engagement, and I guess showing how God had blessed him. He went back to the Ukraine or Russia to do a seminar for the churches started through his ministry, and this young woman sensed the Lord telling her they were to be married. One thing led to another, and I guess he proposed to her, perceiving it was from the Lord. He badly wanted and needed to be married again.
We've been in different countries, and have talked through Skype or email a few times. I'd really like to Skype him to see what's going on. The couple seems happy. They are planting churches and ministering in my wife's home country, now. They have had two or three kids since them. He had a three, I think, from his first marriage.
I can see benefits to marrying close in age. But there are also benefits to women marrying older men. In some cases, finances is a good reason. Older men can be a bit more stable. They can also be a bit more mature in terms of taking responsibility and figuring out what they want to be and what they want to do. Of course, leaving a young widow is a big downside. So is needing care, and having less energy for a wife who is still younger.
Anyone up for a discussion of the benefits and disadvantages of age differences in marriage?