Oh NO world Mary is reading a book!

So today I went to the Family Christian Bookstore in need of bible highlighters. Yes I know I can get highlighters anywhere, but I intend to do a lot of highlighting and I don't want them to bleed. A couple of weeks ago I went to hear Elizabeth George speak and she mentioned that she went through her Bible with a gold highlighter and a pink one: any verse that mentioned God was highlighted in gold and any verse mentioning women Pink. (I also picked up a blue highlighter in regard to men).Anyways with the highlighters in hand I wondered around the store to see what was new, what was on sale, and whatever else I didn't know that I couldn't live without:) There are ALOT of books on sale and one jumped at me "The unGuide to Dating: A he said/she said on relationships." It was $4.97 and when checking out BONUS it was 1.97. You might be wondering to yourself why would this book jump out to Mary? Well as some of you know I make jokes about how there is so much interest in my singleness! The back of the book promises "...to offer me help navigating the pressures, trends, and temptations of dating as an adult"To be honest I didn't get the book to "help" it was more to read a funny book to prove that I am not alone. (alone meaning not the only single person in the world over the age of 25. Yes I know I just turned 26!) So in reading the introduction I am introduced to Camerin (girl) and Todd (boy), two witty columinsts for ChristianSinglesToday.com. I've now moved on to Chapter One titled State of the Date: a strange new world; and I must say instead of helping me feel better it has just frustrated me more!!! Not necessarily the book, no there isn't a lot of meat to the book and yes they have quoted some well known Christians and their comments about being single not only frustrate the authors but me as well but what really just got was when I looked the book up on Amazon to read the reviews, one review in PARTICULAR by a man named Steve says are 3 reasons why women 30 and above haven't been married (yes again I know I'm 26 but thats pretty gosh darn close to 30!)"Women over 30 who have never been married generally are in one of 3 categories which make them unmarriageable: 1. Physically unattractive (a minority) 2. Bad character (the BIG one- I encountered many of these: wackos, flakes etc.) 3. commitment-phobic (They pass conditions 1&2 but they have no real desire for marriage) 1. Not to sound prideful but I don't think that I'm so unattractive that I should have my own booth in a circus side show of freaks.2. I do not have bad character...I maybe a little silly but not a WACKO!3. I am not a commitment-phobic. Which yes some people have alluded to that maybe I am a commitment-phobic and maybe thats why I am single. I am single because I don't want to date/marry just anyone...I want to date/marry the person God has chosen for me.Another one of Steve's gems:"In the book they talk about friendship. Forget it. Women at the singles groups I go to are not looking for friends. They are only looking for a date. If they don't want to date you, they give you nothing more than the time of day. EVERY time I've ever been LJBF'd (let's just be friends) by a woman, she did not want to be friends. This is her way of telling me she wanted nothing to do with me."Here we go another stereotype women who are single/in single groups are only out to get a man! NOT TRUE I know that I can't be the only single Christian who wants single friends. Please don't get me wrong I love my married friends but they have different responsibilities. Again back to Elizabeth George she used the illustration of single women being like eagles who can do all of these things...married women are eagles with clipped wings they get to do different things.Here's the deal do I enjoy being single? Yes. Do I want to be married someday? Yes. Do I get lonely sometimes? Yes. Does that make me desperate? NO! I'll be honest there was a time where I couldn't stand to be alone so I dated without sticking to the standards God set for me and I regret it. There have been so many things God has allowed me to be a part of and different ways He has allowed me to serve that if I had been married I wouldn't have been able to do. I get excited to see how God is going to bring somethings that He has placed on my heart about. I get excited and sometimes overwhelmed by ALL of the possibilities. But I also get excited to think what if marriage is in God's plan for me how cool of a story is that going to be to tell my kids someday of how their father and I met. And if marriage isn't in God's plan for me then I will keep keeping on and be the COOLEST AUNT EVER!