Singleness

So tonight I was faced with an interesting situation, one that I never really thought I would be put in. Well, it's not really all that interesting, but it was for me and I found myself in a position where I really had to think about what I was saying. 

My oldest brother has recently started making a "life change". He currently is not a Christian but it looks like he is searching for something, but he's just not sure yet. Of course, I don't want to push any Christianity on him, that is the last thing I would want to do, but I'm trying to share my Christian beliefs with him in a way that he would understand. 

He messaged me tonight to let me know that him and his new girlfriend had broken up. He had only being seeing her for a couple of weeks and did not know why it was affecting him so much. My initial response to him was simply that, we don't enter into something unless we think that it will amount to something. This to begin with really made me stop and think. It's true! Why would we start something if we think it's not going to get us anywhere. Obviously then, when things don't work out, it's upsetting. 

I then found myself giving him advice on being single and waiting for the right person to come along. Some would think I'd be an expert at this, being 27 and single for all but 4 weeks of my life. But others would think that maybe I just don't know anything about finding a relationship. This is where it got difficult. I didn't know where to go from here, I didn't know what to say to my brother. So I turned to the one thing I do know. I turned to God and thought if anyone knew what to say, to help my brother through this time He would. 

So I thought about Genesis when man and woman were first formed. In Genesis 2:18 God had said "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Obviously we were made to have a partner, so without quoting the exact words from the bible, I told him that we weren't created to be alone and that there would be someone that has been made for him. Genesis 2:22 says "Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." Woman was made from man, which even more shows me that we were made to be together. It's just a matter of finding the right one. 

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh" (Matthew 19:5)

We are not meant to be alone, right from the beginning of the new testament, God had meant for us to find a partner, and then in the new testament, Jesus spoke of it. It's been there throughout history, and it's meant for us now. I shared what I could with my brother, I tried to be understanding, and tried to help him realise that he's not going to be alone forever and that there is someone out there for him. I guess it's difficult for him as he is the oldest of 6 children and 2 of our younger siblings are engaged to be married. As the oldest, he would probably be finding this time difficult. Although he is happy for our brothers knowing that they have found that one person they belong with, I think he is struggling in his own singleness. It brings up a whole lot of thoughts about my own singleness really. I know some days that I struggle with it, and wonder where and when my "prince charming" will come and find me, but as I said to my brother, we just have to learn to be happy with who we are and know that the person we are has a partner out there that God has planned for us. My brother had told me that he was looking, and my last advice to him was "Don't look to hard, you might miss the one that is meant for you." This could be good or bad advice, I don't know. But I think sometimes, we want something so bad, we think we know what we're looking for but what we really need is right in front of us. I don't want that to happen to him. I would love to see him happily married. He is an awesome man, and I can see him being an amazing family man. For now, I guess all I can do is pray and continue to share any wisdom I can. 

Thankful for: Socks

Yes, strange, I know! But as I walked through the house bare foot today, I realised just how cold the floor was and I thought to myself. I'm so thankful that I have socks that I can put on so the floor is not so cold on my feet. Simple but true!