Record Year

It can be painful being single. Sometimes making big decisions on your own can be painful. I waited nine months to buy my home after saving for the down payment because I thought buying a house was something you did after you were married, not as a single 22 year old. Heck, it can even be painful to make small decisions on your own! I cried IN Costco last week. I’m fine. I just have a hard time re-entering into the western world, too many choices. It can be painful to encounter and process a developing nation’s culture on your own. It can be painful when someone asks, “Why are you still single?”

These things are painful, but fruitful. It hurts so good! Every time I talk my way out of a traffic ticket in TZ, I see growth. Every time I fight lies that I am forgotten and not cared about in the States while I’m in TZ and choose to seek the truth that I am loved, I see growth. All of the time I spend alone in my room praying about big decisions, I see growth and new confidence. Every time I answer the, “why are you single” questions, I see growth and new confidence. Painful. Fruitful.

I am all about women’s rights. A couple years ago, Always had an ad that focused on, “When did the saying, like a girl become an insult.”

I live in a country where there is a very dim view of women. Most of them are seen as someone to fetch water, do the cooking, and have babies. No thank you. We were made to do so much more than that! Let us vote. Pay us what you would pay a guy.   Acknowledge our knowledge. We are made in His image. As women, we can share the gospel from a point of view unlike that of a man. We can take care of the orphan and widow differently than a man. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, fully equipped to better the world in which we live. Single. Married. Man. Woman. Doesn’t matter!

I throw like a girl. I hit like a girl. I fight like a girl. All of these are perfect because the world needs more girls and women being who God created them to be who aren’t worried about what others think of them standing in Costco crying. We women don’t have to be equal to guys in everything. I don’t care, nor will I ever care, that my 20 year old brother is better at building things, shooting, and driving than I am. I’m not saying I’m bad at any of these things. He’s just better. I can rock a baby to sleep like no one’s business. Natural talents.

The men in our world have a lot riding on their shoulders. I can’t image the stress placed on a guy when he thinks about being a topnotch provider for his wife and children. Gals, we need to be praying for men. Three areas that stand out to me to pray about are – wisdom, courage, and strength.

I have two main points I’m trying to make:

First: “Like a girl” should never be seen as a bad thing. There is a dang good reason God made both male and female.

Second: Being single shouldn’t stop you from doing ANYTHING. AT. ALL. Get out there.

As I was listing to an Eric Church song, “Record Year,” I got to thinking about my 2017. I think The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song does an excellent job of explaining how I feel my year has gone

                                                  “Now, this is a story all about

how my life got flipped-turned upside down.

And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there,

I’ll tell you how I became the”….

…..volunteer coordinator at an orphanage in Arusha.

I hold babies and tell them how much God loves them. I hang out with volunteers and tell them about God’s faithfulness in my life. I sweat all the time because it’s hot in TZ. Sometimes I forget that I’m white. I’m learning another language. I moved to a new country. But, I think best of all, in 2017, I have a better grasp on my value as a single person. I am proud to share with you a few significant new personal records I’ve made this year. Even though at times it has been painful to reach these new records on my own, I recognize the fruit and realize who is always with me. Psalm 16:8 “I have set the Lord always before me, because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

74,072 miles flown

211 nights spent out of Montana

35 airplane rides

16 cities visited

10 churches visited

5 tearful airport goodbyes

4 travel visas

3 abandoned babies picked up

2 major holidays spent away from family

1 new love – Tanzania