RELATIONSHIPS November 2, 2009 Issue

MORE THAN MY RELATIONSHIP STATUS

LOIS DEGLER

I WANTED TO BE MARRIED . All my close friends had been married for years. Life had been busy; I'd been growing professionally and spiritually, dating and having fun. But I hadn't yet found that special relationship that would develop into a marriage.

It was then that two important thought-changes finally clarified for me my own worth and completeness as a single woman. During this time, I'd been learning more about who I was as God's daughter by reading and studying the Bible and Science and Health, and was making an effort to accept what I was learning about my spiritual completeness.

The first thought-shift, or wake-up call, came when I realized that whenever I saw a certain happily married couple, I would feel a yearning to have what they had. This was envy! And it didn't line up with my desire to live a God-directed life. I saw how this was buying into the sad view that I'd been deprived of something important—that something vital which others had was missing in my own life.