I was just reading ccarothers 'Seasons of Singleness' and was quite encouraged to see so many like minded people replying.

I'm 28, not getting any younger and loving being single. In fact the older I get, the happier I am being single.

This seems to be a problem for everyone around me, ok not so much my Christian friends, but my non saved friends such as work mates etc.

Why is it that you have to be settling down into relationships by a certain age? Work colleagues are constantly wondering when I'm going to settle down.  I'm not sure I understand this concept that one has to be with another person in order to be happy.

A close friend of mine who is a Christian also thinks that we are getting to old to be cruising this single lane.  She seems to be under the mind set that by the time we reach thirty, if we are still single then we'll be considered 'Old Maids'.

I beg to differ, I don't think I'll ever consider myself an old maid or over the hill.  I don't need a significant other in my life to give me some sort of status.

Of course it's difficult on one side of it, because we do follow the belief of no sex before marriage.  Thing is this isn't a big deal for me, if it were I would have been actively seeking a partner long before now and probably settled down with several sprogs.  I can understand my friends alarm perhaps, we're all driven by different natural urges.  And of course the world views such beliefs as rather bizarre in ritual.  Most kids these days are having sex by the time they are teenagers.  Personally I find it rather sad, but it's just the way the world views sex.

I'm quite happy with the decisions of my life in that respect.  I'm not ashamed to state my beliefs about sex out of marriage.  I remember when some close friends at work found out, they all looked at me like I was a pig flying about. Then all the questions come, such as ... Why? It's not easy to explain if people don't follow the same beliefs as you and don't understand your faith, but I think I've made it clear that even though  follow such beliefs I'm not missing out on anything major in life.  I can still have a laugh, a good time, I'm no prude when it comes to sex and talking about sex in certain circumstances.  Just because you follow the path of chastity doesn't mean you're unable to discuss certain subjects.

When I was little I used to dream of the big white weddings, the big church wedding with all the trimmings.  All girls do, and whilst part of me still likes to plan such things with a little nostalgic quality, in reality I am so not ready to settle down and start that side of life.

I've made it quite clear that I'm not interested.  my aunt found this rather shocking in fact that at the moment I

a) don't want to be married.
b) don't want kids.

I may change my mind, maybe next week, or next month, or five years time.  But as of the right now, No Thankyou, Not Interested.

As I said, as the years go on, I don't feel I'm missing out on anything.  In fact considering the problems people get into when they are in relationships, I'd rather miss out on all the hard work and headaches.  Relationships need work in order to survive, whether it be with  partner, a best friend, family members.

At the end of the day if my relationship with God needs work, I couldn't even begin to think about a relationship with a significant other.

So for now I'm loving cruising the single circuit of life.  There's so much in life to enjoy, as  Christians we get to enjoy so much more than the average person.  For now I'm happy working on building up the relationship with the one 'boyfriend' I really need in my life, Jesus.

Now wouldn't it be hilarious if tomorrow God decided it's time for me to get off the 'single circuit' and into 'relationship lane'.

Ok, so I'm going to have to start copying everything I type out before I hit save.  You think I'd have learnt this by now, but nope I still haven't caught on to the habit.

I'd written out a long weblog entry on just everyday thoughts about staying positive, treating everyday as a new day etc etc and hit send only for an error to come up and I lost the entire thing. Haha, Ironic I guess, to not get all miffed about it and instead stay positive, breathe in and out a few times, just let it go.  I'd write it all again only like I  said, it wasn't a plotted out entry, just stuff whizzing through my head as I typed.  A few points I guess would be:

* Treat everyday like a new day - If you fall off the track in your journey with God, don't get downhearted about it, just get up and try again.

* We're just like children - We are God's children, he expects us to learn and grown, but at the same time he understands that we won't always get it right the first time. Or second.  Or third time either hehe.

* Our relationship with God is like a journey - Half the fun of going on a holiday/vacation is the journey part.  Some go smoothly, others are filled with hazards. Point is, for the most part, we do get there in the end!

Oh and on a personal note, I have been seeing the difference, even just small things like how everyday things have suddenly become prioritised etc after I've been putting aside personal time with God and actually working on a relationship with him.

Stay positive peeps and as one of my Pastors said a few weeks back (I've been reading over my notes and this has stuck in my head the past few days):

So, me trying to keep up with one blog is sometimes bad enough, never mind two at the same time. But I like the idea of this place, and being affiliated with Xanga means I've got peace of mind that it will provide plenty to read and think over as well as voicing my own views, opinions, rants and excitements.

Look forward to becoming part of the 'community' and reading plenty of interesting blogs and views.

Sarah Lou xx