I’m single. I live in Sydney’s east with my two flatmates and my cat. (The crazy-cat-lady litmus test is that you know you’ve become one and you don’t care.) I’m in my late thirties. Many of the struggles that surround singleness are my struggles too: tossing up between living on my own (and being lonely and possibly broke) or living with flatmates (and regularly having to find and get used to new ones); turning up to things on my own all the time; feeling the unvoiced wonderings of friends, who think I’m too fussy, or gay, or weird; feeling surprised and disappointed that I’m not married by now, and wondering what’s wrong with me. I tire of all of those things. (more…)
Category Archives: Singleness
Singleness in the Bible
Review
Redeeming Singleness: How the storyline of Scripture affirms the single life
Barry Danylak, Crossway, Wheaton, 2010, 256 pages.
Some Christian topics seem to engage our interest and time more than others. Predestination is a classic; marriage and singleness is another. With so many books already written on this subject does Redeeming Singleness bring anything new to an already crowded ‘relationships’ section of your local Christian bookstore (if you still have one)? (more…)
The ‘S’ word: some thoughts on singleness
Life
Recently, a good friend who is a pastor asked me to jot down reflections on my experience of being single so that he could use them to help struggling single women in his church. One of my first thoughts was: why should singleness be an issue, or an aspect of life that I am asked to frame myself in? (more…)
A practical guide to fending off non-Christian men
Interchange
Thank you for the excellent article in Briefing #368 on fending off non-Christian men. The anonymous author left out one important heading from the 10 she listed: tell him. Unless you tell him the real reason, he will assume all sorts of incorrect ones. (more…)
Making singleness better
Interchange
Thank you for the many helpful articles in the May issue of The Briefing (#368). As a single Christian, I’ve found that getting stuck into a small local church has really helped to make singleness better. While I know that this might seem counter-productive (as it means the chances of meeting a future spouse are reduced), I would heartily commend it to others for the following reasons: (more…)
A practical guide to fending off non-Christian men
Interchange
Thank you for the articles in the May Briefing on singleness and fending off non-Christian men. Both were incredibly encouraging for me. I am one whose singleness has been chosen for me, and it gets harder as I get older. One of the hardest things is the feeling of not being pretty enough or godly enough to be chosen by a Christian man. Yes, there are more Christian women than Christian men. But there are still some Christian men, and none of them want to marry me. I know this is under God’s sovereign control, but I still feel ugly and, well, not chosen. It is a battle in my head and, as I get older and remain unchosen for longer, the wrong voices are the ones that shout the loudest. (more…)
Making singleness better
Life
There are those who say that singleness is better, but unfortunately that is not the experience of many who have been single long-term. Tim Adeney looks at why, and what we can do to love and serve the single people in our churches. (more…)
A practical guide to fending off non-Christian men
What do you do if you’re a single Christian woman and a non-Christian man is attracted to you? What do you do if you’re attracted to him too? In this frank and helpful article, an anonymous Briefing reader shares some advice. (more…)
Husband material
Up front
In case you missed it, Mark Driscoll has been to Sydney recently. It’s created lots of healthy discussion about lots of important things. I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on one particular idea that occurred more than once in his public talks: the challenge to the ‘late-blooming’ young men of Sydney to grow up and take some responsibility. His basic formula was move out of home, get a job, buy a house, get married and plant a church—in that order. (more…)