Valentine's Day and the Single Person

For the single person, Valentine's Day can be sad or at the very least annoying. It's a day that reminds us of our singleness. We watch as deliveries of flowers, balloons and candy are made to others, all the while feeling left out. It seems everyone around us has a valentine. It almost feels like we wear a sign that flashes in bright neon letters "I'm single, all alone, not loved".

I recently answered one of those email surveys that a friend sent me. The email has a list of personal questions and the idea is to send this on to friends in an effort to get to know more about each other. One of the questions was "what is your biggest fear". I answered honestly. My biggest fear is the fear of being alone. I want to be married. I want to have a partner to walk through the rest of my life with. I yearn to be loved by a man. I want to grow old with that someone special. But here I sit for another Valentine's Day, single.

Why is that? Why doesn't God bring someone into my life? I'm not sure, but one of the reasons may be that God is waiting until I have learned He is really all I need. His word tells me in Isaiah 54, that my "maker is my husband, the Lord Almighty is his name". God has been faithful to his word and has been my husband. He has been my provider and my protector just like a husband would be. But I have to admit, that although I find great comfort in the words of Isaiah 54, I still want an earthly husband. You know, the kind that will take the trash out on the really cold days, and kill the big spider lurking in the corner, or fix the toilet that just overflowed. I remember not long after my divorce, the vacuum cleaner broke. I was still reeling with the hurt and loss of a broken marriage, and was now faced with a broken vacuum cleaner. Handy is not a word I would use to describe myself, so I fixed it the best way I knew how....I bought a new one. I underestimated the severity of the three simple words "some assembly required". I sat on my living room floor with a new vacuum cleaner that required "some assembly" and literally cried. Vacuum cleaner parts and assembly instructions surrounded me and all I could do was cry. It seems silly now looking back on that day, but at the time that broken vacuum cleaner and the assembly of a new one embodied the way I viewed my life. The old one was broken and the new one needed assembly.

Well, here I am many years later and God has assembled a new life. I am no longer that broken girl devastated by divorce. And remembering that day helps me realize how far God has brought me.

Psalm 34:17-18 "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." I will continue to cry out to my Lord. I will continue to pray for a husband. Today I am single, but praise God, I'm not alone and I am loved!