I love being God’s woman. He
loves, challenges, and pushes me in ways like no one else. And I make it a priority to set aside quiet time for us.
For me, church doesn’t begin and end only on Sunday’s. I need God 24/7. Because
I’m His woman, I believe in being intentional about spending time together on a
regular basis. One of the things that bother me about some single Christian
women is that sometimes, they complain about singleness, pray to God for a
significant other, and envy other couples without recognizing the
opportunities and blessings singleness affords – specifically quality time with
God. If you can’t be faithful to God first, how and why would you expect Him to
bless and trust you with a significant other? Singleness may have its highs and lows, but you
have the freedom to spend as much
time with God as possible. And if you are single, don’t be in a hurry to change
your status too quickly. God’s not limited by age, timing, circumstances, or
what your family, friends, and society suggests you should be doing. Please
don’t let social media fool you. Don’t let pictures of couples, engagements,
weddings, babies, and those annoying gender reveals fool you, either. Gender
reveals. Ugh. I don’t believe there’s anything natural about them and I
certainly don’t believe God’s design was for us to share news like that with
the world. Within the circle of close family and friends? Sure. But all over
social media? No way. What happened to people just having baby showers? I mean,
no shade, but I think the gender reveal of your baby and sonograms are things
that should be private and not shared with the public. I’m not a fan of seeing
that kind of stuff on my social media and have no intention of ever jumping on
that bandwagon. And lately, I’ve been thinking -- if a significant other,
marriage, and having children is supposed to “complete” and “make me happy” or
so myself and many young and impressionable women, especially Christian women,
have been sold and told, then why do I meet so many people who have those things,
yet, are utterly unhappy, lonely, complain about their significant others,
finances, morning sickness, pregnancy weight, crying babies, changing diapers, and
how challenging their lives are? I’m not jaded and I’m not a hater, but perhaps
singleness is worth holding on to until God suggest something different. Being
able to spend time with Him is an honor. And He loves when we spend time with Him. He always makes time for each and every one of us, so, single or taken, why
not make time for Him too?
I’m a Black educator in my fifth year of teaching middle school English, and in my third as the 8th Grade English PLC (Professional Learning Community) Lead. And while I genuinely enjoy the purposeful work I get to do, seeing the growth of my scholars, and continuing to hone my skills in a content area I’ve loved since I was a little girl, I’ve had to confront some unpleasant experiences in this space. I’d been through much worse when I was an academic advisor at a Christian university. Racism, sexism, harassment, and workplace bullying were sadly norms in that environment. However, some of what I’ve experienced as a Black educator hasn’t been normal … It doesn’t seem normal to be the only Black educator in my department – in a predominantly Black school. One of my Black colleagues once said, “It should look like a Tyler Perry movie in here.” But it doesn’t. It didn’t feel normal being reprimanded in a meeting (during my second year of teaching) by an administrator who went in on...