Singleness....inspired by a Mother's Day Sermon

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers in the world! Always know, mothers, that your job is THE most important on earth; giving birth to and raising children in a positive way which prepares them for the messed up world we live in! Never take for granted the blessing of your children, especially when there are thousands of women who struggle to conceive! Your children were given to you by The One who created you! What an honor! I cannot wait to someday share in your joy of motherhood, but I'll be patient. ;)

I am not with my mom today, but let me explain so that you don't think of me as a heartless, good-for-nothing daughter! My car is a lease, and this past week it reached its maximum mileage and so if I took the trip to Sarasota, I'd be putting 200+ miles on my car...which I'd have to pay for. This next weekend I'm planning to trade in my lease and buy a new car, but my mom completely understands! I miss her though, and plan on celebrating Mother's Day with her in my own special way in a few weeks!

Today's message in church was absolutely excellent! I got so much out of it!!! Our pastor made it clear that the message would not be aimed just to mothers, but rather to all the women in church. He also spoke to the men and explained what their role is in honoring women, in a Biblically obedient way. Anyway, Pastor Bob talked about how women are to be honored not because of what they do, but because of WHO THEY ARE-daughters of the King! That is such a heavy thought but it is what we are commanded to do, by God. This is also true for women honoring women, not just men honoring women. It may be easy for some people to say, "well she did this or she did that [to me], why should I honor her?" GOD says we are to honor women BECAUSE they are daughters of the King-and for that reason alone! The scripture reference Pastor Bob spoke from is 1 Peter 3:7,

"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers."

And here is where the "Singleness" of this post's title comes into play. I'm single. Completely single. No boyfriend, no fiance, no husband...no prospect! And...I am okay with this! I am content right now and do not see a need to act, look, or seem desperate to find a husband, especially when I know and have faith that God has it all taken care of already! He already knows who my next boyfriend will be, whether or not that guy will become my husband, what the guy's name is, what he looks like, the day we get engaged, the day we get married, how many children we're going to have, and how He plans for us to meet.

With that being said, I feel like many people think that something is wrong with us girls who are my age (only 23 mind you!) and don't yet have a serious boyfriend, fiance, or husband. Or they think because I live with my best friend who is my roommate, that maybe I'm a lesbian. Not true! It's sad that so many people put energy into other people's relationship status, and make judgments based on what that status is. But I have faith in a God who is real and I know in His perfect time, he will reveal his special plan for me and I'll meet the "man of my dreams." I have had a few boyfriends in the past in which I have learned a lot from and I think that these years of singleness will be so healthy for my future marriage as I focus on who I am as a person and in God.

Pastor Bob shared a personal story of his daughter relating to this very issue, and I was teary-eyed through the whole thing, which is really what inspired me to write this post. Pastor Bob's daughter recently got engaged to one of the church's missionaries. Before his recent trip to Germany for missions work, he worked under Pastor Bob as his assistant for a little over a year. He flew from Germany a few weeks ago to ask Pastor Bob's permission to marry His daughter. Because of Pastor Bob's and the church missionary's close relationship, it was easy for Pastor Bob to give him the permission he was seeking. Well anyway, Pastor Bob shared today that his daughter is 28 years old. She had been crying herself to sleep at night wondering when God would send her the man she would marry. Our pastor shared how he would always remind her, "Don't settle for less than God's best. You are a queen, a daughter of the King. Just be patient, God has a plan for you." And then, when she wasn't even looking, she met this missionary who she will be marrying in less than 8 weeks. After hearing a story like that, I need not worry!!! I may be 28, 30, 34 before God brings my husband into my life, but I have got to trust that He will provide, and not to settle for less! I know that if I'm 28 and still single, I'll have my days of wondering, "God? Are you there? Do you know I still don't have a husband yet?" But he DOES know. Of course He knows. Let me allow Him to do His work!

I will say, though, that I very strongly desire a husband. Oh my gosh do I ever! I've dreamed about my wedding day and my husband since I was a little girl. I'm not overtaken with the whole "fairytale" aspect, but I definitely have thought about my future husband and our marriage for a long time! I am so looking forward to having a husband to share life with someday, and raising a family together. I seriously cannot wait, but at the same time, I can wait. I'm sure if I were closer to 30, this would be harder to write and that it would be a lot harder to hold true to this faith that I have now. But I'm going to always try and keep this faith as long as it's necessary to! I would love to be married with at least one child by the time I'm 30, but those are my plans, and only God knows the timing on everything. So in the meantime, I'll be patient and wait, and enjoy life...single!