Fathers and Mothers overly encouraging marriage
My girlfriend and I have been dating around a year and three months and are currently living together. I am a student majoring in geology. My girlfriend’s Father is a pastor for the Seventh Day Adventist church. My girlfriend and I share the same religious beliefs (we both believe in god but do not attend church regularly). When we first told her father we would be living together he seemed confused as to why we just don’t get married (he sees unmarried couples living together as a sin), and told us we should get married. My girlfriend and I share the same idea, why rush marriage it is a life long/changing commitment. Recently we visited her parents. At one point her father took my aside and started asking all these questions about why I haven’t proposed, how is living together different than marriage, do I love her (yes), and similar questions. I told him I wanted to get my degree first, for stability, how I don’t want to rush into a commitment like marriage, and how my previous relationship lasted over three years and ended (which blew his mind as to why I didn’t marry her). Around the same time my girlfriends stepmother was asking her similar questions for example am I the one for her, do I think she is the one for me, and similar. My girlfriends father is now in his 3rd marriage (yes as a pastor). How do we say leave us alone to a pastor and his wife without offending them, because I am sure I could throw it back in his face considering he has been married three times, and she has been married twice. Oh yeah, they are attending marriage counseling. My parents on the other hand have the "whatever" attitude.
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