Time

Anyone that knows me knows I have a heart for ministry and outreach.  I love giving and helping others whenever I can.  It makes my heart smile when I see friends and family giving back whether it's serving the needy on a Saturday morning or helping the widow at church fix a window.  Giving doesn't always mean handing someone the cash in your pocket or writing out a check.  Many times, giving comes in the form of time.  

I think a lost area of servant hood is the singles community.  Helping someone that's single doesn't always look like helping them with their electric bill or fixing our car because they're down on their luck.  Not all of us struggle financially.  Many of us just want your time!

I heard a pastor speak one time on single women and how the church is failing them.  In the message he spoke about how many single adult women settle for less than what God has for them because they just want someone to have companionship with them.  He talked about how if the church did a better job of filling in the gaps relationally for these women, they would be less likely to settle for a man that's less than what God has planned.

I was talking to a friend of mine last week and I told him the thing I miss the most about being in a relationship is having someone that cares how my day went.  Some of my most depressing days as a single person have been those days where I had an amazing or horrible day, just to come home and have no one to talk about it with.  A need for companionship is something that's ingrained within us. 

Want to really feel alone?  Go to a restaurant on any given weekend, and sit by yourself and eat dinner in a sea of couples having date night.  I know for me, going to a restaurant or a movie by myself is mortifying.  

I totally get it.  Married people typically have husbands and kids or sports to tend to on a Friday or Saturday night.  I know for me, I will only ask a friend to go to dinner or to hang out so many times before I just stop asking.  Rejection sucks!

I know many of my married friends are sitting there laughing in their minds as they read this thinking, "Man what I wouldn't do for some peace and quiet and some time to myself."  Too much of one thing is not good.  Do you know what it feels like to sit at home by yourself weekend after weekend with no one to do anything with or even talk to?  It can be quite maddening!  Isolation is a breeding ground for the enemy to get in your head and try to convince you that nobody likes you and you're going to be single forever.  

If you really want to bless the life of a single friend, call them up and ask them to go to dinner or see a movie on a weekend.  You'd be shocked at how little we get to do things like that because of fear of being judged for being alone.  Don't have the free time to go to dinner?  Reach out to a single friend in your life and randomly ask how their day went.  Don't just ask, really listen.