I AM SINGLE

Oh, Valentine's Day. February 14 is a day that not a lot of single people like, and understandably so. Scroll through your Instagram feed and see pictures of flowers, surprises, candy, fun date nights, and whole paragraphs about how so and so is lucky to have so and so in their world. All the while the un-taken ones are gorging on candy and watching movies by themselves since everyone else is on a date. Valentine's Day can be one of the most depressing days for singles. Today, however, rocked for me - and yes, I'm single.

Single is such a depressing word. I hear single and I think "alone, lonely, unwanted" and all sorts of other negative thoughts. My hope is that by the end of this post, you think about the state of single-ness differently.

WAITING

Here's the thing- I would love to get married and have a family one day. A strong marriage and a healthy family is something that I ask God for and am greatly looking forward to. However, I'm not waiting for that to happen. When I hear the word "wait" I think of sitting in a doctor's office trying to pass the time before your appointment. I think of a person sitting in their car impatiently as the drive-through order is taking longer than expected (first world problems). I'm not waiting to get into a relationship that leads to marriage. I'm not sitting twiddling my thumbs as I look for the day Prince Charming walks through the doors then my life can begin. What an absolute waste of time. No, I'm not waiting. I'm living. I am on a beautiful journey where I can devote my entire life to pursuing the vision that God has given me. I can live completely devoted to Him without the responsibility of caring for a husband and children. I am in charge of my own finances, my own decision, my own time. These are all things that I will one day happily share, but right now I have freedom to do what I want with these things. Being single is not a burden, it's a freedom!

GIFT

I touched on this already, but this next thing about being single was a recent "I get it!" moment for me. Being single is actually a gift that I can give to others! In the New Testament, Paul talks about the fact that single people get to use their singleness as a gift to the church. This is something that I am blessed to live out very practically. I basically live at my local church. I get to be there almost every day! My calendar, school schedule, social life, finances, and decision making is all based on what's going on at church during the week. Being single gives me the opportunity to devote my time to helping God's House grow! Do you know what I spent my Valentine's Day doing? Mailing out invitation cards for a church event. And I was so glad to do it! I spent most of today make-up-less, in a t-shirt, and watching Pride and Prejudice while I stamped hundreds of postcards. No it wasn't glamorous, but it was needed, and I had the time and energy to do it. I am blessed to be so involved in God's House! Now you might be thinking, "Krista, I can't be at church all the time, how can I use my single-ness working at McDonalds?" Guess what, my friend? The CHURCH is not just the building, it is God's people! No matter who you are or what you do, you can always be a voice of encouragement, hope, strength, and joy to build people up around you. You are a vessel of God that can be used to spread His Word and see others come to Him. You can find a church where you can serve consistently. You can give your finances towards missions trips, outreaches, visions, events, etc. While single, you can give yourself fully to help the church grow in any way that you can. It's awesome and so fulfilling!

SINGLE

The word "single", as I said before, often has a lonely tone to it. When you look up the definition of single in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, these are the first definitions you see-

not married: of or relating to celibacy: unaccompanied by others:lone, sole

Wow, depressing. It can be hard to be single sometimes. All too often we find our value in having a "significant other". But keep reading, and check out what you find.

consisting of a separate unique whole : individual . Just as a person is part of a crowd, so are you a part of God. You may be single, but you are part of a "unique whole." You dwell within Him as a unique individual, completely different to everyone around you, yet completely a part of God.

unbroken : undivided. You are dedicated to God without any distractions. He has your undivided attention while He forms you for whatever your future holds. He is forming you to be a beautiful woman loves others with her whole heart and who gives herself completely to His calling. A husband may very well be in that future for you. If so, He is forming you for him, too.

designed for the use of one person only . You are designed to be used of God. This will never change about you. If we surrender our hearts to God, we are completely devoted to His will for our lives! You will always, in this regard, be a single girl.

having no equal or like : singular. There is NO ONE in the whole world like you, my friend! Stop comparing yourself to all the other girls who no longer claim the title of being single. She doesn't have your life. God has something else in store for her that is beautiful and right for her. God has something great for you because you have no equal or likeness. He has an amazing, fantastic, mind blowing, absolutely awesome plan for you that you can't comprehend!

My wonderful single ladies, I so hope that by now your eyes are starting to open to the beauty of single-ness. I'm sure marriage is awesome, but I've also been told time and time again that there are many wonderful things in this season of life that you will never get to have back once you are married. Obviously marriage must be amazing because it's what most girls want, but it's not everything. We need to come to the realization that if we never get married, Jesus is enough for us. Being the church is enough for us. Loving others is enough for us. I know that God can fulfill the desires of your heart, and of mine. But let's not waste time waiting. Let us open up our hearts to give ourselves to being single women who are passionate about loving others, being used by God, and changing our worlds!