New Years Bring New Couples

          New Years bring new couples. Everyone knows this. Today is officially January 1. I know someone who got engaged yesterday. Some one's Facebook status said that three of her friends got engaged on December 31. You see proposal scenes on TV at the ball/peach/possum drop. Awfully cute and romantic, isn't it? I wholeheartedly agree. But where does this leave the single people? Are they left behind, as yet another year rolls by without a ring on their most useless finger?
          The world seems to be accepting New Years as yet another holiday for singles to miserable on, like Valentine's Day. But I want to ask - WHY? Why is it necessary for singles to be miserable?
I typed into Google the phrase: "Bible verses about the good of being single". The results came up with things such as, "how to fight singleness with Bible verses" and "how to abstain from being bitter when single". In both Christian and worldly circles, singleness is portrayed as something that is only inflicted upon poor and unfortunate souls. I have been looked upon with disdain and horror when I have casually mentioned that I would not mind if I never got married.
          And I will not deny that there are more verses in the Bible on marriage than there are on being single. But there are some prime examples of faithful Christians who lived a life of celibacy, Paul being a major one (and Jesus Christ being the foremost). In 1 Corinthians 7:34, Paul says, "And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and in spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband." Those who are not married are able to completely commit their life to Christ. Why else do you think the monks had such unbecoming hairstyles - if not to make sure the women never came near them? :)
          Now I am not making an argument against marriage, I am simply promoting singleness (because that happens to be my current relationship status). I am wholly for marriage and wholly for singleness. They both are equal gifts from the Lord. Katie McCoy says in her article, "Waiting for Life to Start", that we first must recognize the gift, then accept it and then live it.
          She also says that we shouldn't look at our unmarried life and say, "How long?", but rather, "For what purpose?". I really really REALLY like this. :D
          I am (contrary to popular opinion), NOT going to college to find a husband. I am going to college to get education, friends, experience, and training that will last a lifetime. Because I believe that God has given me a calling, I will pursue it with all my heart and not stop to look back unless He intervenes and gives me a new calling. Right now it is not marriage. And if it still is not marriage when I have finished college, I will be honest in saying that I will be perfectly happy.
          MY intention for this new year is not to get married, but to rather - as Elisabeth Elliot says - "I have one desire now - to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it."