The Quote That Prompted a Note

Just in time for Valentine's Day, I saw this quote and thought.. "Why not write a post?" I hope you find this just as encouraging to read as I was to write. 

"A spouse and a minivan full of kids on the way to Disney World is a sweet gift and a terrible god. If everything in Christian community revolves around being married with children, we should not be surprised when singleness sounds like a death sentence." - Kevin DeYoung

To those who are single: I can rightly put myself in this category because I am not yet married. We dream of the day we will walk down the aisle. We dream of Disney World and packing the minivan for the excursion. But DeYoung hit the nail on the head when he called this a "terrible god." When we place our identity in marriage - the actuality of it or the lacking of it, we are placing our identity on shaky ground. A shaky ground I am all too familiar with. I'm familiar with it because I've come to realize that marriage/or the lack thereof does not determine my value. Think of it this way because I know these thoughts go through our head: I'm never going to get married. I'm not married. I'm not worth the commitment of marriage. See how that god has formed? See how you're allowing it to determine your value? If you're looking to marriage for your identity and worth, I can tell that it will only disappoint. Marriage is a gift from God of course, but it was not meant to be our sole purpose on earth. Adam and Eve were placed in the garden to worship God and enjoy Him, but sin interrupted that. Your identity is found in Christ. I used to hate this because I didn't really understand it. I've come to realize that only Christ will satisfy our deepest desires. We were broken, and He placed the greatest value on us by leaving heaven to redeem us. That's enough reason to worship Him there! It's not about what is in this life for you.. It's about living this life for Him- He is at the center.

To those who are dating: Marriage is still a terrible god. It doesn't change because your relationship status changes on Facebook. As previously mentioned, the marriage and dating relationship are not about you, Romans 12 tells us to present our bodies as living sacrifices. If we are to present ourselves individually for His uses and purposes, shouldn't our relationships be doing the same? Dating relationships for His glory. How can the two of you together bring more glory to God than separately?

To the churches we attend: Help us out. Encourage us that singleness is not a death sentence. Don't be afraid to minister to us. We are happy to serve the church, but we don't want to be your babysitters at every church function. We want to be mentored and shown how to grow to be godly men and women. Please point us in that direction rather than just letting us go.

The end. 

In completely unrelated news, I got to rock this little gal right to sleep. And because I'm the aunt, I can blow on her face and try to wake her up just so we can play some more!