For you and your husband, I would also encourage you to be proactive in your daughter’s desire to get married. I assume you must be praying about this already. So I’m going to suggest you start with serving the single men in your church. Your husband’s discipleship and mentorship of these men to develop biblical masculinity will serve many single women, possibly also including your daughter. From my numerous conversations with single men, I’ve learned they need encouragement to trust God by risking rejection and being clear in communication and leadership. While married women can be effective sounding boards, I think married men are the untapped resource in our churches to help this generation recover the glory and priority of Christian marriage. If we want single women to get married, my opinion is that we must encourage married men to evangelize and disciple single men.

That’s the broad answer to your question. You asked several specific questions. I cannot hand you specific answers to some of them, though. If you have the financial resources, if you receive confirming counsel, and if she has a desire to develop further skills, I think a college degree could be helpful to her future. One never knows what the future holds – illness, widowhood, empty-nester jobs – all of these could require a set of employable skills. I know many women whose professional training serves their husbands, even while at home with small children. One woman does the finances for her husband’s business. Another woman does part-time design from home. Another does freelance writing to supplement her family’s income. These are issues of applying biblical wisdom, not rules.

The same goes for living at home. I know single women in many living arrangements, some still living at home with their families, others living in homes they have purchased. I don’t think the living arrangement per se is what matters. I think the degree of accountability, participation in the local church, cultivation of responsibility, boundaries for relationships with single men, and wise financial stewardship are the parameters that should be considered. An adult child living at home but not making adult contributions to the home could be a hindrance. A woman living on her own but without accountability would be unwise. A woman making a good salary but not investing it long-term in real estate may want to reconsider her situation. There is no automatic answer. It requires seeking God’s guidance, honestly evaluating motives and attitudes, and living where godliness is the highest priority. I know several single women who live with other families, for example, when their own families are not nearby. That might seem odd to others, but this arrangement serves the families and the single adults alike. The goal in any situation is living in such a way as to bring glory to God.