In response to David's questions:
#1. What main preliminary questions did you first work through to establish a ground floor to work off of?
The purpose of these questions is to determine, "Should I (or should I not) marry this person?" In other words, to find out whether the person is Biblically qualified and compatibly like-minded, and if being married to them fits within God's will.
These are examples of main preliminary questions we worked through. Obvious firsts include: whether the person a Christian and is growing in the Lord, discussing views of husband/wife roles, family vision, child education, worldview, financial issues, etc... (Note: worldviews can vary family to family even in a tight-knit community like HBC.)
#2. After you establish that you have the same worldview, and are making good progress forward, what next?
Once you have determined that it would be within God's will for you to marry the person, you can consider and answer the question, "Could I marry this person?" and "Do I want to marry this person?" At this point you are learning one another's personalities, likes/dislikes, growing and maturing together in the Lord through various difficulties, working together, creating a friendship, and learning how to be best friends.
In our experience, this one wasn't too hard to answer because we already knew each other for 7 years before the courtship began. Nevertheless, the months we have spent doing these things have been a huge blessing and, we believe, are laying an excellent foundation for marriage.
To sum it up,
The main preliminary questions we worked through were those which answered "Should I (or should I not) marry this person?" and after we were making good progress forward we did things to answer the questions, "Could I marry this person?" and "Do I want to marry this person?"
Any other questions out there?
Be God's and follow Him step by step...
Tyler & Perry
