Greg thinks back and wonders who told him singleness was going to be hard. He thinks it might be because he heard such good things about marriage and things you would get in marriage and essentially marriage was lifted up. If you got all of those things in marriage then it must mean that being single meant that you would live alone, lack intimacy, and not involved in the lives of kids. 

‍

Greg is 33 years old, in his Jesus year! Around 25 it felt clear from the Lord that he was going to be single for life. One of the things he’s found as time has gone on is that the more he stops fighting the feelings of unfairness, and really thinks about how how to live in this season and be fruitful. The more he has created space to ask God those questions and for God to answer those questions the more God has really interesting and fun things that Greg is invited to be apart of in it. 

‍

A lot of times the temptation is to miss the really good gifts God is trying to give while looking for another gift in another season. 

It’s important to be open handed in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in. So much of the logic was skewed when it came to what Greg learned about stewarding his body sexually as a young person. Something that was really significant that he had to really change in his mindset was that he started needing to perceive the value of stewardship of his body as something that he doesn’t do because of the care of a future marriage but he actually does because of the deep interest and delight that God already takes in him.  

‍

What if you lived a life in singleness so rich that even Greg at 33, it is so fulfilled that if I gave you a matrix pill and I said, “here’s another universe, where you could be 33, 3 years married with 2 beautiful children,” and you say I don’t really know which one I’d pick because they are both so spectacular. 

‍

Greg believes so deeply that the things God is using him for now are so GOOD that he can’t really imagine an alternate universe without them. He is deeply convinced that God has given him good gifts in this vocation and he doesn’t want to swap them out because those are someone else’s gifts. 

One of the things that Greg loves so much about this part in scripture is that Jesus doesn’t deny that there is something given up to follow him. There’s a recognition that there’s a price. Jesus doens’t just promise eternal life, he also promises things in this lifetime. He’s promising we will be family to one another. Friendships are eternal, marriage isn’t. 

It’s important for people to rise to the occasion to rise up and be the family to each other. How are you called to be the answer to prayer someone else is praying for family? The more Greg participates in christian community that operates like family. There are no guarantees. We’re called to bear each other’s burdens. There’s no way to set up a fool proof way to be taken care of when I’m old.  

Everyone’s journey is going to be different. It’s been crucial for Greg to let God speak into his purpose and how he’s called to invest in the others around him. So many are taught that marriage is the purpose of life when it’s really not. Ask yourself, “what am I here for?”