Self-Prep

You know how there is always someone there telling you at the end of a long drawn out conversation about what you really want to do with your time here when it gets to the part about marriage to be patient? And then it somehow ends with a simple, "Make a list of non-negotiables you want in a husband and stick to them!"? And of course, trust in the Lord's timing. Yes, yes & yes.

You know you have either received this advice, have already drafted that list, or both.
Admit it.

Now I want you to consider another idea.

I had this one brought to my attention by a friend in ASC with me and it has been kind of an answer to a prayer I've been praying for focus lately.

What if we let go of the ideas we have about the kind of men we want and focus on the kind of woman/wife/mother we, ourselves, would like to be? What if we spent this season of singledom preparing our own hearts for the next chapter? What if instead of a season of waiting, it became a season of preparation and refinement? What if we sought the Lord each day with the intension of only bettering our own hearts, souls, & minds?

"Love the Lord, your God, with all of your heart, with all of your soul and with all of your mind."

Matthew 22:37

I don't want to be disappointed in not finding the right man, right now because it's the next step in my timeline. I want to be being proactive in the preparation process so that when that man walks into my life  & pursues me in God's timing, I will be ready for it.

So, I will prayerfully be making a list and learning more about who God is, who I am in Him and what He is calling my future to look like through that identity. The woman He will shape me into and the role I will take hold of in my family some day.

& you can bet I won't be accepting an invitation of engagement or of pursuing a serious relationship until I am so filled with truth and confidence that only the right man will even come knocking, because then I'll be ready & it won't fail because I came prepared.