The Single Life

"To be involved in the simplest form of ministry may require the married woman three times as much time to accomplish, in comparison to the single woman. Although a single woman may long for the "chaos" of a family, she must not waste her time wishing for it. She must be diligent to use her single time wisely now. She has more control over her time and choices now than she will probably ever have again."

As promised, I must share the perks of being single on my family vacation. I will be honest that I wasn't looking forward to this vacation as much as everyone else was. (dear family, if you are reading this, please read all as to better understand my meaning in this entry! haha!)I mean just think about it: mother+father, brother+sister-in-law+nephews, sister+brother-in-law, AND don't forget jenna+nobody ... haha! I was not looking forward to the constant reminder of being alone and hopeless. My fam is amazing and always supportive of me in everything that I do, but of course, I am human and somewhat envious of what they all have (marriage this is).I thought that my singleness would just get under my skin all the more on this trip, but as always, God surprised me.

First of all, I got an entire bedroom to myself with my own bathroom and jacuzzi tub overlooking God's creation. The first thing i realized that I was anything but alone. I was closer to God than I ever have been. I was able to truly bask in His closeness. How precious that is. I could feel God's direction so clearly especially with starting this blog and how He wants to use it for His glory (which is really all I want out of this blog stuff!!). I had my own little mountain retreat there in our cabin. One word. Awesome.

Second of all, at Dollywood, (btw this one isn't quite as deep as the first reason, but every reason serves its purpose in reminding me that singleness is not my punishment) all of the couples took turns switching out watching the kids when we rode some of the rides, and I never had to do it due to none of the couples wanting to split up. I don't want to sound like I didn't help out with my nephews the whole day, because I love them with all of my heart and enjoy every single minute with them. I just want to make a point that this was somewhat of a perk, because I am a bit of a rollercoaster junkie.

Last of all, people who barely know me as a person usually know how much I love my nephews, because I talk about them all the time and flaunt pictures of their precious faces. As much as I love those two precious little boys, being a mother and wife is not as glamorous or fun as our minds make it out to me. Baby vomit and a crying two-year-old is enough to remind me that the single life has its rewards too. fyi ... this by no means changes one of the deepest desires of my heart to get married and have children, but in this time in my life, I am better able to understand the place God has me. "The perfect time to make the most of every opportunity is while you are single. Every believer should use time wisely, as Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV) says: 'Be very careful, then, how you live -- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.'"

Okay, I don't know if this made any sense to yall, but somewhere in the inner parts of my mind (which is a scary place), it makes sense to me. These are just small things that God used to help me see that He wants me to be content and satisfied in Him and His plan for my life. We just have to look at the positive side of things. Sometimes they may be small, stupid, or silly, but I have found that it is so important to see not only the big things but also the small ones.

"Our selfish nature tends to focus on what we do not have rather than on what we do have -- free time -- that can be used for others and ourselves. Is your life on hold until you have someone to hold?"

No matter what God's plan is for me in the future, I will live for today and be happy and content with the Lover of my Soul and my Prince of Peace. My moutain retreat ended today, so now to apply all that God has been teaching me in my week away from my normal, average, single life. I can't wait to see what God has in store.

Learning to love,
Jenna