I made a choice twenty years ago, and even though I'm no longer living on 'fantasy faith', I still feel confident about that choice: becoming a Christian is the same decision I would make today. However, how excited am I to still be single?

Today I'm fine... but New Year's Eve is in five months, and Valentine's Day is in seven months: some days, being single is a breeze, and on other days days it's just tough. As a woman, it would be nice to know that someone other than God adores me and can't wait to be with me. I'm not willing to leave God because someone noticed my nice outfit ( and those compliments always seem to come in my weakest moments ), or because some guy outside my faith is always smiling at me and making an effort to get to know me. There are many ways I could compromise my faith: it's way too easy to hide things, to run from the people in the church who love me. But carrying the shame of a guilty conscience before God is too heavy for me to bear.

I love who I am when I'm with God. I'm inspired to be righteous, encouraged to fight for purity, and I feel so strong when I have a victory over Satan. Sometimes, though, the war that rages within me is that I also want to be found beautiful in a man's eyes.

My non-Christian girl friends are convinced that it is alright to date a man who is not a Christian, that there are good guys out there. It is honestly frustrating always having to explain why I choose not to go that route. There are moments I even have to convince my Mom that I still like guys! Sometimes, to reassure her, I'll mention a few of the men in the church, so she'll know all is well on the dating front.

Many Christian women I've known over the years have given in to disobedience of the Word, and have gotten involved in ungodly relationships. I hear the stories, and hope there won't be sad endings to follow. Now, I know that there are probably good endings out there- couples who are making it work, although I don't think that's a chance I'm willing to take. As someone once told me: it depends on how spiritual you are, and what you're looking for.

I desire deeply to have a relationship with God, and to  be with a man who loves God. I can't imagine being in a relationship with someone, and waiting and hoping that one day he will fall in love with God: I don't want to end up fighting the battle alone.

So, I'm left with the power of prayer. Someone once quoted that ' without hope there is no faith'. Temptations abound, but I choose to wait and see who God chooses for me.