Single

Last night I went to a special 'Night of Encouragement' that a friend organized. The main purpose was to hear the stories of two women; stories of how they waited through their singleness and what God taught them through that time and how eventually he provided their mate.

I wouldn't say I dwell on being single (as I have occasionally noticed others can do). I think I embrace it and live life; doing, living and learning. I still love (and on the inside and only briefly hate) when my friends start dating someone and eventually announce 'he's the one' and plan a beautiful wedding, and start their life as a wife and drop off the face of the planet and start having babies... Honestly one of the parts I do really love (but can still sometimes be painful for my wait) is to hear the story. The story of how they went from me to we. Often times there's nothing special about it but it's still so very special, especially if this particular friend had to wait a while. I have wonderful friends so usually when they are waiting a while for this part of their life, I'm wondering why and curious what God reveals in that time.

That's exactly what this night of stories was for and it did not disappoint. Twenty women showed up to the story night, that alone tells you how our hearts need to be encouraged by these kind of stories. Stories of woman who waited patiently (or occasionally not so patiently) on the Lord, spending time with the Lord and living their lives and eventually having God lead them to the one. We need to hear that at the end of this wait will come our Knight, but the truth is God has never promised that and we cannot expect that He will give us that. We can hope that He wouldn't have given us the desire for a husband if He wasn't planning on providing one...but just hope, not expect.

I was reminded last night that more important than any other way I may be preparing to be a wife is the time I spend with God. I don't understand why God hasn't brought me that special someone and I definitely don't understand why He's holding off in providing that for some of my friends...but what I know for sure is that He loves me. He loves me and He wants me to spend time getting to know Him and working toward being like Him. He loves me and longs for me to desire Him more than I desire anything else in my life. He loves me and He wants my first thoughts to be about Him and my actions and words to be a reflection of Him in my life.

The best kind of husband would be the kind who loved me because of how much he saw those pieces of God reflected in my life. I'll wait forever for that kind of husband. That might mean I'm too old to have babies or that I spend many many more years waiting and watching many many other friends' wait come to completion...but I will wait as long as I have to for the right kind of relationship with my husband.