In your personal opinion, if your goal is not to find a spouse, then what is there to life?

I recently asked this question to a group of friends which was a mix of young adult/teenage boys and girls.

Yes, it’s strangely weirded, but I wanted to hear what they had to say on this topic because we often live with the intentions of someday getting married or someday finding a spouse, right? If not now, then at least in ten, fifteen years or so.

My friends’ answers were along the lines of the following:

• Using your life to serve God and serve others
• Living your life to glorify the Lord
• God comes first, and when the time is right, then our future spouse will be lead into our life
• “Your spouse is your life partner and that requires having a life.” (Direct quote from Joey, and it made me laugh out loud.) You can’t have a life partner if you are living in your parents’ basement and eating Doritos while playing Call of Duty 24/7.
• You need to learn how to love yourself and love God before you can commit to loving someone else

Obviously, we all had the same idea: living for God and trusting in his timing, but also knowing that we can’t just wait for said spouse to poof into our life and then we are married.

All that is to say is this: being single is awesome. And I’m sure that as you get older, singleness gets harder. You watch your friends get engaged, have kids, and live joyful lives…and you’re still the Single Pringle in the friend group.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, this thought has been in my mind a lot lately. Not because I’ll be single on Valentine’s Day, but because someday I won’t be single on Valentine’s Day. And with that thought in mind, it makes me joyful but also I am so joyful at the idea of getting to spend Valentine’s Day loving the Single Pringle life that God has given me.

Let me explain:

I’m single—which is totally fine, I’m only seventeen—and this just means I get to celebrate Valentine’s Day with the mindset of gratitude for the relationships God has given me.

I’ve learned to be thankful for my two best friends, Liv and Apple.

I’ve learned to be thankful for my family.

I’ve learned to be thankful for my small group.

I’ve learned to be grateful for my church and Bible study.

I’ve learned to be thankful for my guy friends at aforementioned Bible study.

I’ve learned to be thankful for my coworkers.

I’ve learned to be thankful for my mentors.

But most importantly, I’ve learned to be thankful for the Lord.

It’s so important to form, love, and grow the relationships around you before you commit to a relationship with another individual. Why? Because those people will watch your growth as a human either shoot up, be stunted, or decrease. And your friends or family are the ones who should be holding you accountable.

The most important people in my life are all rooted in Christ. And they are all—in the least creepy way—watching me as I continue my Single Pringle journey. None of them have ever been afraid to confront me about things that I need to fix, and while it may sting in the moment, I am really grateful for that.

It just means that when God introduces Mr. Future-Willow’s-No-Longer-A-Single-Pringle, I will be in the right place for whoever God has in store for me.

As Valentine’s Day comes up, whether you’re single or not, I encourage you to do this:

Make a list of the people you’re grateful for and send at least three of these people a text saying you’re grateful for them and why. You know what, don’t even do three—do ALL of them!

You may be thinking: this is dumb, they know I appreciate them.

DO IT ANYWAYS.

Seriously, a single text saying, “I’m thinking about you, thanks for everything” will literally make their day, maybe even their week!

Whenever I’m in public or at work, I’ve made it my goal to compliment at least one person. (More often than not, I find several people to compliment.) Maybe it’s something like “I love your outfit!” or even “You are so pretty.” And when I do this, it not only makes them smile, but their smile makes me smile.

Make it your goal to be a joy-bringer.

It’s something so simple and yet it changes the way someone’s day is going. Small things like this are always reminding me what a blessing people are. (And that’s coming from the introvert.)

We read that Paul lived a life of singleness, and he made the absolute most of it, making the salvation of strangers his priority. (1 Corinthians 7) He knew that singleness was what God was calling him to, and he accepted that because he knew that it was for the good and glory of the Lord. Instead of trying to force God to adapt to his (Paul’s) desires, Paul adapted and accepted God’s desires and he found the beauty in it.

I’ve written more on that in my post, Don’t Waste Your Singleness, so be sure to go check that out if you haven’t!

There’s a lot we can learn from the Bible on living for the Lord and living a life that glorifies Him. And really the best way to learn those things isn’t by reading a blog post—it’s by reading the Word.

You heard me—go read that Bible! On this topic, I highly recommend 1 Corinthians chapter 7. (:

I hope you enjoyed this post! Thanks for reading.
~Willow