In the Meantime...

I'm about to admit something that I feel a little funny saying. Maybe it's going to sound a little funny to you too, or maybe you know just what I'm talking about (I'm taking the risk and hoping for the latter), but when I first got out of college and moved into my own house, I sort of had something in mind. I sort of didn't really expect to be staying here very long. I may have even sort of expected that at some point pretty quick, I would meet a young man that I would end up following, which means I wouldn't be needing this house anymore. Of course, if I wasn't going to be living here for long, it made sense to me that there wasn't much use in going all out to decorate the place. I mean, I'd just have to move it all out later and might not even need it at that point. So why bother?

Two years later, I am sitting in my rather plain living room, in the middle of my plain house with a plain front yard and I'm thinking that whether I elope tomorrow or don't get married for another fifty years, you know, it really wouldn't hurt to make this place feel like home in the meantime...

Raise your hand if you've ever treated single life this way. (Okay, put your hands down now, because people are going to start looking at you funny if you keep doing that.) What I'm getting at is that it's really easy for me to think so highly of getting married that I start thinking that being single is fairly useless. That it's just a period of transition that's not really good for anything. Not worth getting excited about. Not worth decorating. That is so wrong!! Think about some of the blessings that have come your way because you're single. Think about the time you are able to spend reading books, loving family members, or working in some form of ministry because you don't have a significant other to focus on at the moment. I think that God will rejoice with us when or if we find someone to walk His road with, but I also think that He's got reasons for having us walk it without that person for a while. I think that He would want us to use our time wisely.

My point is that living single is a lot like this house I'm living in. No, I didn't expect to live here this long or live single for this long. Yeah, I'd change things, given the choice. But look at this place. Bare walls. No flowers. A chair for one person. Who wants to live this way? Why shouldn't I enjoy it here? Even if I get swept off my feet tomorrow and elope, I'll at least feel at home today, and if I don't get married until fifty years down the road, at least I'll feel at home while I wait. Either way, putting life on hold until I get what I pray for isn't exactly going to help anything, is it?

I don't know how long God has planned for me to be single, but I do know that in the meantime, I've got a Target sack full of new homey decorations that I bought last night and I have no problem admitting it - I can't wait to pull them out.