A while ago, God gave me a vision to write a book for single Christian women by a single Christian woman. So often the "single" books are written by married women we feel just can't relate to us anymore. This is my attempt to begin writing this book, a chance to put my thoughts down and hear feedback. To all of us girls waiting for our princes and to the already married queens ruling their kingdoms, I humbly dedicate this "book."

Monday, February 21, 2011

Single Awareness

I can't quite seem to start this post. Every time I do I erase it thinking I sound trite or ridiculous. So perhaps I will just be blunt.

I LOVE being single. I truly, truly do. There is simply nothing like it. I can do what I like when I like. If that means drinking out of the two-liter bottle (very unladylike!) then so be it. :) If that means going on a spontaneous roadtrip with my friends - well, being single is really the only way to go.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to be married or at least in a committed relationship, and I doubt I would turn down the right guy right now. But I also find so much joy in this precious season of singlehood. Precious because this is my chance to experience all God has for ME - not US. Yup...it's my chance to be selfish. Selfishly aware that God adores me, completes me, and loves me me me.

And on the flip side of that - it's my time to pour out ALL of my love, adoration, service, devotion, and commitment on God and God alone. There's no one calling me "Mommy" or asking what's for dinner or hypnotizing me with his deep, dark eyes. Again - excited for that season! And so excited for my current season.

I think often when we think "Single Awareness" we think of how lonely we are, how incomplete we are, how defective we must be. When I am aware of how single I am (like it has degrees or something!), I mostly reflect with joy at what a wonderful gift God has given me right now. He loves me so much that He wants to pour out His love and grace and mercy and abundance on me alone - teaching me to trust in Him for everything, like self-esteem, finances, direction, and motivation; teaching me to love Him so deeply and thoroughly and ardently; teaching me to revel and rest and relax in His love; teaching me to walk in faith, speak the truth, lavish forgiveness, and rejoice in His strength!

You can't enjoy that when you are depressingly stuck in Single Awareness.

And you know what? Not only is the Single Season a time for you to revel in God's specific love for just you, it is also a time for you to learn about being in a marriage relationship, because you are married whether you know it or not. Married to God. In a marriage relationship with God. An intimate marriage relationship. There's no better training ground for your earthly marriage than to engage in your heavenly marriage! There's no better investment than to spend your earthly singlehood in a heavenly relationship that will pour out blessings on your earthly marriage!

Oh yes, I'm aware that I'm single. And I love it. I honestly, truly do. There is no better lover than God. :) THAT'S the truth!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hm. It seems hard to believe that you're really preparing yourself for the sacrificial, dying-to-self nature of marriage when you're stuck in the mentality of God as a benevolent, Daddy Warbucks-like figure whose single purpose is doting on and spoiling you, you, you. Someone who truly "would love to be married or at least in a committed relationship" seems like they would be either actively seeking such a relationship or preparing his or her heart for one by learning how to sacrifice one's self for the greater good of another. Christian love, by its very nature, is the very antithesis of "selfish," so one would think that one's state of being "married to God," as it were, would teach one how to constantly die to self and think of others rather than indulge in a mindset of "it's my chance to be selfish." It's great that you're learning so much about yourself and enjoying this season of your life, but it's okay to love ardently seeking a marriage relationship as a reflection of Christ's marriage with His Church as much as you clearly love being single (though you do say quite a few times that you'd love being in a relationship and you're SO looking forward to having one -- I'm getting some mixed messages there. If you'd really love to have one, then go for it and stop telling the world that you're content with being single forever!).

I'm not trying to bash here, and I apologize if I've come off that way -- you've got a good thing going in learning to listen so clearly to God's voice and being content in your current calling and/or state of being. God uses singles just as much as he uses those in relationships and marriages to serve Him and to further His Kingdom, and I applaud you for recognizing that. I'm just trying to illustrate how important it is to not only revel in the present, but to anticipate the future and someone else's place in it -- and how that person will change how much time you spend thinking about you, you, you.