Let me just say, I am as single as they get. I have never had a boyfriend and it does not look like I will be getting one any time soon.

But that's okay. Being single is absolutely, 100% fine.

Being single is something that I have been struggling with. Two of my siblings are married, one of my friends is engaged, and some of my friends are in great relationships. Its like all these happy couples are following me around, rubbing their non-singleness in my face.

Honestly? The jealousy of happy couples and the dread of being single is real.

My single friends and I always joke around, we even throw the words "forever alone" into the conversation. When we say these words, we are joking, but there are those times when I really feel like that will be the truth.

Then I start thinking about it and I remember that I am only 18 and that I have my whole life ahead of me. Even when thinking about that, I still struggle.

The other night, when my mom and I were in the car, the topic of my struggle with being single came up. In total that night, my mom and I were in the car for about an hour and we spoke about this topic for a good 45 minutes. My parents have been married for almost 32 years, so my mom is pretty good at giving relationship advice.

She told me over and over that God will send the right person for me. That the reason I do not have someone right now is because God does not want me to. He has plans for my life right now that do not involve me having a boyfriend.

But me being the stubborn kid I am, I just kept agreeing with her, not really listening all that well. At the time, I did not really take what she was saying to heart. I had heard it all before and I really did not feel like listening to it again. I was being selfish and, for some reason, I wanted to dwell in my jealousy and dread of being single.

Then the very next night, the interim pastor from my home church came over to our house to visit with us. I sat in the room while he talked to my parents for about an hour and a half. When it came time to leave, he decided to pray for us. I joined in a circle with the three adults and he began to pray. A little ways into the prayer, he began praying for me. His prayers for me were not for my schooling (what pretty much everyone prays for me about nowadays), but they were for my future spouse.

He began to pray that God would send the right man to me. That the man that was sent was a Godly man, one that would join with me in my pursuit of God. A man that would lead me closer to God instead of away. The prayers for my future spouse had actually brought tears to my eyes.

In that moment, it finally clicked in my head that it was okay to be single. My life did not have to be spent in a relationship. I just needed to wait for God's timing, not mine.

I think the coolest thing about that prayer was that he had no idea that I was struggling with singleness or the fact that my mom and I had had an entire conversation about it the night before. He did not know any background information, yet he was able to pray the exact words that I needed to hear in that moment.

I guess what I am trying to say is, since God has brought me the same message twice now, it's really starting to stick with me. Now, I actually feel better about being single. I do not have this aching feeling when I think about it any more. Sure, I still get jealous of all of the happy couples I see, but I do not dread being single.

I am single and I am proud, because God's timing is so much better than mine.