Leigh McLeroy devotional

His to give away
February 8, 2012
I should be used to it by now, I know. But every time I go to a new place, meet new folks, I'm always a little ill-prepared for the sorts of questions that women typically ask one another. 
"How many children do you have?" (None. Unless you count the cute one with fur. He turns six next month.) 
"What does your husband do?" (This would be much easier to answer, I assume, if I were married. Which I'm not.) I've actually said at least once "I'm not sure, yet." But I don't think the "asker" got my feeble attempt at humor. 
Then once these two awkward hurdles of social exchange are cleared, and I imagine I've escaped the getting-to-know-you-gauntlet relatively unscathed, there's this: "You mean you've never been married?" (This one is a true or false, right? True. Final answer.) 
Usually that's the last question in this particular line of inquiry, but occasionally, I'll get a fourth: "Really! Why not?" 
When I was younger, I was prone to say with a smile, "I just haven't found a dress I like." A little later I employed "I haven't found anyone yet I want to ask." But then I realized a lot of women do ask or demand or set deadlines (!), and what I had thought of as an absurdity might have actually been their experience. So I stopped that. 
Now I'm just prone to say that God hasn't seen fit yet to give me away. The question begs a longer answer, but really, this one is the essence of any further explanation I might give. My heart belongs to Him. It's His to give, and so far, if anyone's asked Him for it, He hasn't yet said yes.
Sometimes I'm asked (especially by 30-something single women) if I have "the gift of singleness." Every time I hear this dreaded phrase I think of a good friend (single well into his 40's) who likened it to the package that no one wants--like a bad Christmas sweater or a pair of itchy pajamas. But actually, I do. Today. Because today I am single, and this day--all of it--is a gift from God. I don't know what gifts tomorrow will bring. But yes, today He's given me the "gift of singleness." And I plan to enjoy it and use it well.
For the record: I've never married. I've never had children. I'm not sure why. But if you asked me what part of my life so far I would have traded for the mystery behind "door number two" I'd have to say none of it. Because my Father's been very, very good to me in every season and every circumstance. And if you asked if I have any regrets, if there was "one I let slip away," I'd say I don't think so. (Although once upon a time I might have hesitated at this.) 
I wrote a book about living single because I was asked to, not because I really wanted to. Good things came from it, but I never wanted to be just a "singles" author or a "singles" teacher, or "that girl who still isn't married." My singleness is a present-tense fact of my life, just like the fact that I'm green eyed and Scotch-Irish, that I'm 5'7" and brown-haired, that I live in the city but dream of the country, that I love baseball and dogs and Scrabble and can't whistle or tan to save my life, but can make myself at home in five minutes flat with just about any book that's printed in English. My check-the-box marital status is only one fact about me. But it's not the one that defines me, any more than any of these others do.
Here's what defines me: I'm His. And I'll be His forever, no matter whom else I might belong to in the shorter term. That identity suits me. It fits. It's a role I'll spend eternity growing into. And for now, I am His to keep, and His to give away.
"But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love forever and ever. I will praise You forever for what you have done. In Your name I will hope, for Your name is good. I will praise You in the presence of Your saints." Psalm 52:8-9, NASB 
*An "oldie", but a "goodie" I think...with a wink and a nod to Valentine's Day. You, too, are His, and loved!
www.leighmcleroy.com
"Speak what you feel, not what you ought to say."