28 Days of Thanksgiving {Single Edition}

Has anyone else noticed their facebook newsfeed being constantly bombarded by a million and one well-meaning/some trashy/junk/cry fest articles & videos along with the five thousand thankful posts? Don't get me wrong I love these & I read more of them than I am willing to admit at the present moment. But for the most part, my brain has been on complete overload with all of it ... Not the point of this post ... moving on. I do genuinely love the thankful posts, but for some reason {unbeknownst to me} I can't get on that bandwagon & post those every day.

So in typical God fashion, here I am on my humble little blog of 20 something followers expressing a reason *all 28 of them* for every day leading up to & including {THANKSGIVING}about why being single is good. {Short disclaimer: this by no means is intended to undermine the blessing of marriage or make it seem that I think I am any more blessed than the next average jane. I am simply following God in obedience by taking this opportunity to see the blessings God has given me during this season of my life *which just so happen to be directly correlated to my singleness & my desperate need to be more thankful in my circumstances*. Okay. end of my not so short disclaimer.}

Every year around this time, the lovey dovey posts multiply by the thousands {and rightfully so ... no judgment here} as well as all the perfect Christmas card photos displaying couple after couple madly in love. Excuse me while I barf. haha. just kidding. kind of. No, seriously ... please post yourselves silly to give as much publicity to whatever blessings God has given you from the moutaintops, because seeing happiness, blessings, & uplifting material boasting about our amazing God on social media has become so few and far between that it's important that the world sees at least a little bit of Christ in the so-called Christian community. Not to mention, I have a tendency to view singleness as a punishment or something when in reality it can {can being the key word depending on your my disposition} be just as rewarding and blessed.

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Well, here goes. Buckle up. The ride could get bumpy.

I'm thankful for ...

28} My quiet cellphone. That sounds weird, but I'm less than thrilled with my phone blowing up on a regular basis. I like not having to watch my phone. When I am conversing with another human being via text, I find it annoyingly necessary to immediately respond. I am not a fan of delayed/ongoing/nonchalant/stupid conversation. So yes {despite how desperate I was as a teenager to have boys text me like they did my friends}, I like a quiet and/or silent cellphone.

27} Being able to make independent decisions without muddying my internal waters with someone else's feelings/thoughts/ideas/opinions. {Don't get me wrong ... I also acknowledge how nice it would be to share life decisions with someone ... just seeing the glass half full here}. I only have to consult God for His guidance for life decisions. no one else.

26} A king bed all to myself. That should speak for itself.

25} & while we're on this general topic. No snoring. {Insert relieved face here}

24} No one to consult about what temperature to keep the thermostat on ... other than my parents who happen to foot that bill.

23} Sitting at home on a Friday night in my PJs watching as many girly tv shows & movies I can find.

22} No-shave winter. Okay, so I do shave occasionally during winter, but the beauty of being single is that I have no one to impress & time is already limited in the morning ... so the first thing to get cut off my morning to do list is the shaving.

21} No stress over ridiculous girl moments I have with warring thoughts of "What is he thinking?" "What did he mean by that?" "Does he even like me?" So not worth it.

20} Not having to spend ridiculous amounts of money on someone for Christmas & birthdays that they probably won't appreciate anyway ... Goes both ways with someone buying me something that I might not be super appreciative of {although I pretty much love all gifts that come from the heart}.

19} Never having to dress up for anyone. Do I choose/have to dress up on Sundays & for work? yes. Do I dress up for any occasion other than that? no.

18} Not having to think about someone watching me eat in what is already a potentially awkward situation {especially with stinking braces ... but side note: braces are coming off in t minus 28 days. whoa buddy}

17} Having a beautiful white Christmas tree covered in pink, purple, blue, & green ornaments. I love having one of the girliest trees on the planet. I wouldn't trade that for anything.

16} & on that note. Being able to buy pink everything. bathroom, bedroom, pillows, plates, cups, etc. I love pink & I'm not ready to give that up just yet.

15} Friends. In my experience with friends, {girl} friends cease to exist when a significant other comes into the picture. Now I may be speaking out of stupidity/lack of experience in this particular situation, but if/when I am ever in a relationship, it doesn't make sense to me to put a friend on the backburner ... but maybe that's just because I've spent the majority of my life on the backburner to everyone else's boyfriend. That's right. I did notice. It did hurt. & the good news is that I've learned from it & I hope to never make my friends feel the way I've felt. Having girls that are as close as sisters who can build us up & uniquely know how our brains function is so important. God gave us friends for a reason, but needless to say I'm thankful for the friends I have right now & the time I have to spend with them. {Sorry didn't realize that was such a touchy topic for me ... moving on}

14} Not having to share. This sounds selfish, but give me a break ... this is not easy coming up with TWENTY-EIGHT reasons that I'm thankful for something that I struggle with being thankful for. :)

13} My independence. & at least give me a little credit for a past blog post about relinquishing some of my obsessive built up need for my independence. That's been mostly shattered by my current living status ... aka my parent's house. But even still, I sure do love my independence, & God is the only dependence I currently see as necessary.

12} Being able to eat at any restaurant I so choose. If I want to eat at subway five times a week, I'll be darn, that's what I'm gonna do. Thankfully, there's no one there to complain about that.

11} & for that matter .... Cooking/Eating whatever I want. Minus my parents, but I'm working on that one.

10} Having the task of cleaning up after myself only ... & if my mom reads this, it's really not necessary to make some mean comment that I don't clean up after myself anyway.

9} Only being financially responsible for myself. & if you know me, you know that's hard enough as it is.

8} The luxury of getting to leave work, go home, & just enjoy the peace & quiet with no plans or schedules. My planner is already crazy enough without someone else doubling that on me.

7} A career that I love & am very passionate about. God called me to speech pathology many years ago, but had I met someone & married in college, I probably would've never followed through with my master's degree. If you've ever talked to me for more than 5 minutes since I started college in August 2007, you know my heart is overseas. The truth is IF I had met someone & gotten married right out of college, I would have probably insisted that a master's degree was unnecessary & encourage said husband to immediately move us/family overseas. So praise the good Lord Jesus above that He didn't allow that & that I am now in one of the most challenging and fulfilling jobs I could ever imagine. Whew ... I sure am thankful for Jesus.

6} A closer walk with the Lord in times of loneliness & fear. When I feel like I can't handle being single for a moment longer, I feel the Lord take my hand & whisper into my heart. "I am enough for you."

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5} The opportunity to just work on me {inside & outside for that matter} & get rid of some of my baggage in life. God has been using this time in my life to refine me. Most of the time it feels like He has me in the fire, but I'm okay with that as long as it draws me closer to Him.

4} The time I have right now to spend investing in & ministering to others. All types of people & especially girls of all ages. My 8th grade sunday school girls. All of the GAs at church whom I have gotten the opportunity to share my passion for missions with.

3} Being able to spend all of my holiday breaks with my family instead of splitting my time & seeing less of my amazing family. {Noted that I'm sure I would love in-laws if I had them; yet, I don't have them... so I'm thankful for the lack of in-laws in my current circumstance}

2} The ability to be able to jump on a plane at any moment & drop everything to go on mission trips over holidays and summer break. I want to tell people about Jesus here & in every deepest, darkest corner of this world. I long & desire to be apart of God's work all over the world to tell every boy & girl, man & woman about the love of Jesus. It is my joy & pleasure to give back what has been so graciously & mercifully given to a wretched sinner like me. I truly believe that God is pacifying my heart in the here & now with a summer break to spend overseas until His plan takes me there more permanently.

1} Being exactly where God wants me & today that is single. I'm most thankful for the fact that God has a special plan for my life. Psalm 139:15-16 says, "My frame was not hidden from {Him} when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, {His} eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in {His} book before one of them came to be." I'm thankful that I'm single, because God has planned for me to be single for His plan and His glory. & that's a good enough reason for me.

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Yep, I think that about covers it. Now please hear me when I say, that IF by some miracle of the good Lord Jesus above I do ever get married, I will probably have to eat every one of these words & actually rewrite this post stating the complete opposite. But in my life {today} these are things that God needed to remind me of to break down my preconceived plans for me & teach me that I have so much to be thankful for & even more to continue working on/growing in the Lord. 

Maybe one day I will have 28 Days of Thanksgiving {Married Edition} ... Only God knows. & if the day never comes, I will rejoice for the life I have been given & praise His name until kingdom come. The greatest blessing on earth is the miracle of the Gospel. God made a way for us despite our dark & sinful ways. He stepped in & sacrificed the innocent blood of Jesus for you & me to gain inheritance in His kingdom. 

Shouldn't every day be Thanksgiving for that reason alone? 

Learning to be the Light, 

Jenna