My car broke down yesterday. In the middle of traffic. On a major road. It was a warm, sunny day and the car decided to stop where it was in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It was the clutch. (My fault for driving a manual.) A clutch is supposed to operate in two phases: in and out. My […]
Surviving Singledom
Issues relating to my book and to the broader challenges facing Christian singles
Free-falling faith
I recently resigned from my job. That’s right, chucked it in, without having another job to go to. I have resigned without the safety net of knowing where I am going next. This was not my plan. The plan was to find the next job, line it up neatly, then resign. I like my […]
Finding my Fit
When I was in my twenties, I did not fit because I was single. Everyone around me was married by the age of 21. It was like a team sport in my church. “No problem,” I thought, “It will just take me a little longer to find the right person. There’s no urgency anyway.” […]
The Idolatry of Marriage
“Marriage will solve my lust and loneliness problems.” “When I get married, I’ll finally be able to serve God in my fullest capacity.” “When I get married, my problems will be over.” I’ve heard single people make comments such as these. I used to believe them myself. As a single 29-year-old, I was convinced that […]
Did You Survive?
My social media feed one month ago was inundated with pre-Christmas survival-type blogs. You know the kind of thing: “7 tips to stress less this Christmas”, “How to spend time with family without wanting to kill them”, “How to make a killer Christmas lunch” and so on. My feed was full of tips and tricks […]
Surviving Showers
There are a lot of celebrations designed to congratulate couples. There’s the engagement party, bridal shower, kitchen tea, hen’s night, buck’s night and of course the wedding. Dating couples get Valentine’s Day and married couples get the yearly wedding anniversary. Once kids come along, there’s a whole new plethora of celebrations to be enjoyed. Baby […]
Surviving Singledom: A Testimony
I can hardly believe that I published Surviving Singledom one year ago. How well I remember undoing those boxes and smelling the fresh aroma of new pages wrapped in plastic. I could barely believe they were mine or that I had written every word printed on those pages. I was so excited to take a […]
Missing the Boat
During a rather fun conversation yesterday with Vision radio, I was asked by the co-host Alex about how to respond to single people who feel they have “missed the boat.” Alex told me of a single friend in her 40s who had given up hope of finding someone. This friend felt she had missed the […]
Out of the In-Crowd
One of the problems that many single people face is social exclusion. A friend of mine at church once told me of an experience where she was explicitly told by a group of church friends: “We’re going out for dinner now, and you’re not invited because you’re single.” Then all of the couples in the […]
Adopt-A-Book
“Write a book, they said. It’ll be easy, they said.” – Jeff Goins, Author. The concept of writing a book is a notable and noble-sounding goal. It holds the promise of notoriety, publicity and personal reward, with the act of publication held high as a sort of monumental achievement. But there’s another, less-often discussed side […]