Can Christians date?

I have often wondered if as a Christian could I date?  I went to the place that I know I could find the truth, God's word.  What I found was not anything on the topic of dating, but rather how to have good relationship with people.  How to prepare yourself to be a husband or wife.  How to commit yourself and keep your eyes focused on God.  Also, guidelines on how to keep yourself pure. When my daughter's fiancé asked me about dating her I told him, "keep God in it make Him the center of your relationship and to keep it pure".  In addition, when you are dating your potential  spouse keep the lines of communication open, don't put yourself in a position of compromise and have fun getting to know each other.  Where it gets tricky is if there is children from a previous relationship.  I would highly suggest that you keep the children out of it until you know for certain that it is moving to marriage.  If you are dating someone and the kids get involved then there is a break up it can do damage to the children.  Your kids are a gift from God and the time you have with them is precious.  Just keep that in mind when you are trying to start a relationship with someone.  The joy of feeling potentially loved by someone is glorious just ask God to help you keep it in perspective.  Just my 2cents...Missie

Here is a link that I found in research for this article that I found very helpful.

http://www.crosswalk.com/family/singles/what-does-the-bible-have-to-say-about-dating.html