Radiant Singleness

I think it was good, we do need to learn to rely fully on God for everything. I think that if we rely on our spouse to meet our needs, and we ever have to do something without them, we'd be a mess. If we learn to stand alone then we can do it again if necessary, for a long time or even just a short time.
I do agree that it's hard to wait, I'm struggling with keeping my thinking in line with what it should be, and I would love to find a support group for singles. I don't know about the whole match-maker thing. I know that my man will be a God-send indeed! The kind of man I'm waiting for surely must come from the special order rack! But as He has done before, He will come through for me again and do it with such style that I'll be embarrassed at how impatient I was! However God does it, whether through match-making, a date line, or even just bumping into one another at a random place, God always fulfills His promises, and I believe marriage is one of His promises!

I really agree with Rgod! I find this article helpful for those who truly are 'waiting around' and wasting their God given talents. But what we singles need most are articles like 'A hunger like Starvation', and ones that encourage us when we are down. We need fellow singles to let us know what helps them when they are fighting extreme lonliness, when they doubt God even has a plan to fulfill our deepest yearning, when we want to give up because it there seems to be no hope in sight.
Our Christian singles need encouragement, support, and suggestions to fill the gap that our married couterparts have. We are complete in Christ, yet God still blesses us with spouses that fulfill some of our deep emotional needs. I felt like this article was a rebuke, telling me that if I were more active in the church, I would be just fine with my singleness. Most days I am, others are unbearable.

I enjoy some of Leslie's writing... but I must say, as Christians we are called to be proactive in our thinking! Yes, defiantly, we are to submit to God's will, and what He desires, that doesn't mean we need to be passive about issues though.
Paul talks about the older woman mentoring the younger - why isn't that happening? I have seen some programs that encourage that, but in your typical church, the older aren't mentoring the younger!
I know a lot of parents who are 40+, and they are all afraid to match-make anyone. I get that they feel if they mess up, it'll be on their heads, however, that's the way people have gotten together for hundreds of years! If you were royalty, generally, you married royalty and either you A) chose a princess from a different country
B) your brother/ father (guardian) chose your husband (preferably one who was wealthy, and whom the father/ brother wanted to make peace with)

Now, it's a "fend for yourself" deal. Stay single, and be happy doing it.

That was a pleasant article. I'm having conflicting views about our neo-traditional look at singleness. Can you find any scriptual justification for what this article is suggesting? I understand that singleness and getting married shouldn't be your desperate focus, but come on lets' look at reality. The reality is that in biblical times this was not the case. The entire community was active in finding single folk mates. They not only had arranged marriages but matchmakers. In Jewish communities it was considered a blessing to make a successful match. We have NOTHING echoing that in today's christianity ... no matter the denominational circle. All of this "let God send me a mate" smells funny to me. It doesn't seem true and I think it shows just how truly disconnected from each other we are as a community of believers when people in your own church don't know you well enough to be a good match-maker. What are the older married couples doing to help the younger find mates & be prepared?

Crosswalk Singles Editors,

Can you please give us more articles from people who have actually been single? There is a compassion and a depth of understanding that comes through when the author has been single - and different types of issues that are addressed. One author that I found to be helpful in the past was Dick Purnell, but there are many many others. Mrs. Ludy married at 18 (http://blog.ylcf.org/2006/02/eric-and-leslie-ludy.html) and thus, has never been single (unless she is divorced or widowed, but her writings don't seem to reflect that). To have someone who's been married for all of her adult life write about singleness is kind of like having someone who has never had children write about what it is to be a parent -- the right words, but no practical experience. Married people's take on singleness is often a some sort of lecture about being content or about how to "cope." Singleness is about so much more. Appreciate your consideration of this request!

rgod