What if this were my last year being single? What if the waiting will be over in one year? **For the record, I do not believe this is the case.**
{These are BIG ifs, but if I lived as if my waiting had a purpose, how different might things be?}
It wasn't until recently that I really thought through the implications of this statement. I don't know the future. I don't know what will happen tomorrow much less if I will ever actually get married. But this simple question made me re-evaluate some things. Regardless of whether I get married or not, I don't want to have any regrets.
So what if this is my last year being single? What would I do differently? How would I take advantage of this season that God has me in?
It is so easy to lose perspective when being single isn't preferable or necessarily by choice. Trying to process how to live the rest of your life as a single can be ridiculously daunting and overwhelming. Checking each day/month/year off the list like it's just one less day to be single can be mundane and overall seem pointless. So I got to thinking. Let's not think about it in the long term. Let's think about it in the short term.
Maybe God does plan for me to get married one day, and if He does, I want to be prepared. I want to be in a marriage that is God-glorifying, mission-focused, and Gospel-driven. But if not. If marriage is not God's plan for me, all these preparations will not go to waste. Without marriage, I can still be stronger and grow closer to the Lord. The closer I am to God, the more people I can help bring into His kingdom.
I am less motivated by my singleness/desire for marriage as I am my love for God and His Word.
But I wonder if I spend more time focusing on God and less on my lack of a relationship, how could things change for me? How revolutionary could this year be?
How different will I view my waiting place if I am using it to work on my relationship with God? More focused time on God means less focused time on my singleness/waiting place.
It helps my heart to give myself a goal, but in the meantime, the ultimate goal is for God to transform my heart to want Him more than I want to be married.
I'm so type A that it's ridiculous. So naturally, I'm all about goal-setting.
October obviously has been dedicated to redeeming this waiting place God has me in through the Write31Days challenge.
I can say all day long that I want to make the most of this season, but those are just words until I put some action to it. I'm not sure what that's gonna look like month to month, but I'm waiting and listening for God's voice in this matter.
November is already decided though. As I talked about in my Weekend Encouragement // Part Three post, I will be starting a study called In the Wait. I'd love for any one out there waiting for something to join me. Just click here to look into it. Take the plunge. Know that God will honor our attempt to redeem our waiting places.
One hour. One day. One week. One month. One year. At a time. God will carry me through.
{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}
{These are BIG ifs, but if I lived as if my waiting had a purpose, how different might things be?}
It wasn't until recently that I really thought through the implications of this statement. I don't know the future. I don't know what will happen tomorrow much less if I will ever actually get married. But this simple question made me re-evaluate some things. Regardless of whether I get married or not, I don't want to have any regrets.
So what if this is my last year being single? What would I do differently? How would I take advantage of this season that God has me in?
It is so easy to lose perspective when being single isn't preferable or necessarily by choice. Trying to process how to live the rest of your life as a single can be ridiculously daunting and overwhelming. Checking each day/month/year off the list like it's just one less day to be single can be mundane and overall seem pointless. So I got to thinking. Let's not think about it in the long term. Let's think about it in the short term.
Maybe God does plan for me to get married one day, and if He does, I want to be prepared. I want to be in a marriage that is God-glorifying, mission-focused, and Gospel-driven. But if not. If marriage is not God's plan for me, all these preparations will not go to waste. Without marriage, I can still be stronger and grow closer to the Lord. The closer I am to God, the more people I can help bring into His kingdom.
I am less motivated by my singleness/desire for marriage as I am my love for God and His Word.
But I wonder if I spend more time focusing on God and less on my lack of a relationship, how could things change for me? How revolutionary could this year be?
How different will I view my waiting place if I am using it to work on my relationship with God? More focused time on God means less focused time on my singleness/waiting place.
It helps my heart to give myself a goal, but in the meantime, the ultimate goal is for God to transform my heart to want Him more than I want to be married.
I'm so type A that it's ridiculous. So naturally, I'm all about goal-setting.
October obviously has been dedicated to redeeming this waiting place God has me in through the Write31Days challenge.
I can say all day long that I want to make the most of this season, but those are just words until I put some action to it. I'm not sure what that's gonna look like month to month, but I'm waiting and listening for God's voice in this matter.
November is already decided though. As I talked about in my Weekend Encouragement // Part Three post, I will be starting a study called In the Wait. I'd love for any one out there waiting for something to join me. Just click here to look into it. Take the plunge. Know that God will honor our attempt to redeem our waiting places.
One hour. One day. One week. One month. One year. At a time. God will carry me through.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}