Single Friday Night Blues by Cary Branscum

    You may be single and wondering, “How many single folks are out there?” Good question. By the early 1990’s, single adults (folks over age 18) made up over 50% of the adult population in the U.S. (compare that to the end of WWII, when only 3% of the adult population was single). Of today’s single folks, 36% own their own homes, 22% rent houses or condominiums, 28% live in apartments, and the rest (13%) housesit, live with parents, or have other living arrangements.

    Had enough numbers? Good! But the numbers should help remind you that as an adult single, you are not alone! Lots of folks, live, laugh, love, and serve God who are single. But out of all these large numbers of singles, there is no one just like you. God is vitally interested in you as an individual! You are known and loved personally by God. We want to be that reminder that God loves you as a person, as a single, and as his child. We also want to help give you some ideas on how to better live for him and receive his blessings.

SINGLES TIP FOR THE WEEK:

    What are your weekends like? Does this ever happen to you? Wednesday you begin to think about the weekend. You are with coworkers, you work, laugh, talk about Seinfeld. Thursday, you finish up a project, get home late, fall into bed, and realize you have no plans for the weekend.

YOU are the one living your life.

    By Friday, everyone is jazzed for the weekend, but you have nothing planned. Who cares? You’re a young vibrant professional who will find plenty to do this weekend. You wrap up Friday, get home, and start dropping all your work clothes as you hit the sofa. You channel surf and glance at the clock. No plans, maybe someone will call. Maybe you can go out to eat at a nice place, just you. You rest, you channel surf. It’s almost 7:00. No one calls, you eat the tuna out of the can before it goes bad. It’s dark now. You’ve had tuna, three hours of surfing, no one calls and you feel sorry for yourself. You’re single and you suddenly feel very much alone—it’s another episode of those single Friday night blues.

    What to do? MAKE PLANS! Simple ones—easy to do, not very difficult to pull off.

    By definition a plan is something you create BEFORE you need it. Plan a weekend schedule. It doesn’t have to be perfect or rigid, but it needs to be a cool, fun roadmap for your weekend. YOU are the one living your life. At this point, the chances are slim that someone other than God can waltz into your life and take over completely. Besides, God is the only one you would really want to do that anyway. YOU are the one working together with God to build your life. YOU can make plans about what to do with your life, your time, your money, your resources, and especially your weekend. Ask him in prayer to help you with your weekend plans. Offer them to him then live them for him, but don’t just sit there! DO IT!