You’re just sitting there minding your own business when suddenly you see it. Maybe you’re just bored scrolling through your Instagram feed. Or maybe you’re trying to find a meme to send to your friend on Facebook. But suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, it hits you. “This is the fourth one this month…” you murmur to yourself as a chill runs down your spine. “It’s an epidemic! It’s a catastrope!!”*
Ladies and gents, it’s engagement season.
It seems like everywhere I look, one by one my friends are getting engaged. Not only are my friends getting engaged, but also some of them are even on their second child. All the while, I’m sitting over here just trying to figure out how to boil water. ** I’m about to graduate college, and this seems like the prime time for couples that have been dating since middle school to get engaged, and honestly, that’s when I thought I would get engaged, too. When I was little, I saw myself meeting my future husband around my sophomore year of college, dating until my senior year, and getting engaged right around Christmas going into my last semester.
Well, my friends, that’s not exactly how things have turned out.
Would I love for my knight in shining armor to come and sweep me off my feet and ride away with me into the sunset? 100% yes. But do I also know that I’m a strong, independent woman that is nothing buy sassy to any guy that takes the slightest interest in me? OHHHH YES. So no matter how much I would love to wear a beautiful diamond ring on my hand, first, I need to figure out who I am. Mark 10:8 says, “…the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh.” I don’t know about you, but I feel sorry for the poor sucker who tries to become one with me right now. So in this season of my life, I’m thankful that the Lord is teaching me who I am and is continuing to mold me into who He wants me to become.
Along with letting the Lord do His thing in my heart, there are so many things that I can do right now that I couldn’t do with a boyfriend, fiancé, or (dare I say it) husband. For starters, I don’t have to check in with anyone before I do something *** and I don’t have to worry about the idea of having children. My mom is technically still raising me, so there’s no way I could raise another smaller, needier human right now. Also, I am right at the start of my twenties, and as I’ve often heard it said, this is a time to be selfish. For the story the Lord is writing me, I need to figure out my career before I establish some serious relationship****, and I’m thankful for where He’s taken me and where He continues to take me.
So to all of the couples that are recently engaged, this article is not a bash on you!! I am thrilled that you have found the one your soul loves (Song of Solomon 3:4). But to those of you who are still waiting for the one the Lord has promised you, don’t sweat it!! In fact, stay in your sweats all day, order a pizza, have a ladies night, paint the town red, do whatever you want! Just don’t wallow in your singleness. Being single is not a sickness, but another blessing the Lord gives you to continue to reveal parts of yourself you didn’t know. So how do you get through engagement season? You congratulate your friends, quit going crazy looking for “The One,” and “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make your path straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Because I don’t know about you, but I ain’t becoming “one” with just anybody.
*Please enjoy this video I found on Buzzfeed that relates to this article
**This is an inside joke between my family and me. Once at the young age of 14 I asked where the boil button was. I'm still looking for it.
***I have some friends who would beg to differ. Once, I asked my friend what he was doing that weekend and he replied,” Oh, I just assumed we were hanging out.”
**** ALSO this video is so relevant.
