Yesterday I read an article that had me really fuming. I?ll include some excerpts from the article, then my thoughts on them.

In this post-modern pop culture of selfishness, greed, and ?if it feels good, do it? mentality, it is no wonder marriage is becoming less fashionable, and people are marrying at a much later age. What saddens my heart most is to see this mentality unknowingly creeping into conservative Christian circles.

I cannot tell you how many times over the past few years in speaking with some of the best and brightest ?graduates, I have been told, ?God has called me to marriage, but not for quite a few more years because I have so many things I want to do while I am single that I won?t be able to do when I am married.? To hear such statements breaks my heart. Whoever said marriage is bondage? And when did singleness equate freedom? ?.

Recognizing that marriage is an illustration of Christ and the Church, it would seem logical that Christian young people would be excitedly anticipating marriage. And yet, time and time again, I hear godly Christian young people associating marriage with ?the inability to serve God.? . . .

Sixteen short months ago, I stood at the altar and covenanted to love, honor, obey, and cherish the most wonderful man in the whole world! We had first met 11 years ago when our families began attending the same church. We were only nine and ten at the time, but even then the Lord had planted a seed of love in herts. It was not until ten yers later that God?s timing was perfect for our relationship to grow and blossom under the protection and guidance of our parents.

?.Marriage has proven to be so much beyond what I could ever imagine. It has been an incredible, wonderful experience. Over and over again, I have asked myself, ?Why are so many young people delaying marriage thinking they will be better able to serve God in their single years??

?.I recently attended a conference where I listened to a father and daughter speak on courtship. I have a great respect for this family and was excited to hear what they had to share. About halfway through their presentation, the father began to explain how they had encouraged their children to wait until they were older to marry. His reasons? So his children could more effectively serve God single and be more mature and ready for marriage. I could hardly believe it. Here is this wise father admonishing his 25-year-old daughter to wait to get married so she can more effectively serve the Lord!

Let me be quick to assure you, I am not advocating throwing caution to the wind when it comes to marriage, nor am I saying every person needs to get married by the time they are 21. What I am saying is that it is time for parents to stop discouraging their children and other young people from their highest callings?that of being fathers and mothers to the next generation.

Let me start by saying that she is correct in some of the things she is saying. Marriage is, indeed, a wonderful thing, and a beautiful picture of Christ?s love for the church. I, however, see an opposite problem from the one she describes. I see culture?both secular and Christian?encouraging young people to focus on that beautiful picture, even to the exclusion of focusing on what it?s a picture of! Should a desire for the picture overshadow our desire for the reality of our union with Christ?

She quotes Ephesians 5: 23-31, which talks about marriage, but she completely forgets about I Corinthians 7: 32-34. This passage talks about how an unmarried man or woman ?careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord,? but a married person ?careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.? (The man verses are 31-32, and 33 is the woman verse.) That blatantly says an unmarried person has a lot of ways in which he or she may serve God that a married person can?t. Besides things like being a journeyman missionary (they don?t accept married people for that), unmarried people can just pick up and go visit someone who needs help or whatever, while a married person has to worry about getting supper on the table or getting the kids to bed.

There are, of course, some ways in which married people can serve God that singles can?t. I think it works out to seasons in life. God has seasons for us to be single, seasons for us to be married, even seasons for us to be widowed. I think it?s Paul who talks about the ways that ?young women,? ?older women,? and ?widows? are to serve in the church. If all this is laid out in Scripture, God obviously has things he wants people to do in all those seasons. The author mentions ?God?s timing,? and that?s what it?s all about.

If you are focused on serving God and growing closer to Him in your single years, is God going to say, ?Oops, that was the guy you were supposed to marry, but you were too busy with Me, so he went and married someone else.? No, I think that if you?re trying to do God?s will in your life, you will see when He wants you to get married, whether it?s at age 18 or 48 or 68, or never. Some would say, ?Well, God?s not going to just drop something in your lap?you have to go out and do something.? I agree, and I would say that seeking after God and trying to do His will is the best ?something? you can ever do.

Perhaps it?s just that this author is still suffers from the ?I?m silly in love and everyone else should be, too? syndrome, but I get the feeling that she?s one of the many people perpetuating the myth that life begins at marriage. I expect to have to explain to my little students that just because someone is an adult doesn?t mean she?s married. But I would really prefer not to have to explain to adults that just because someone isn?t married doesn?t mean she?s not an adult.

Believe me, if things had gone according to my calendar, I would be either married or within a few months of marriage. But God?s calendar isn?t the same as mine, and I realized that I should conform to His, rather than trying to make Him conform to mine. I think we all need to remember that, no matter what, God?s timing is the best. (And I?m trying to remember to use grace and love, rather than firing off an e-mail to this girl to tell her where all she?s wrong.)

Well, I've recovered from all the stuff that was going on right before the holidays, and I'm starting to have a little more time in my schedule. It was hard going back to work when I had only just started to do all the things I had wanted to do over the break, but now I'm enjoying myself again. Funny, this time last year I was starting to run out of stuff to teach. This year I'm running out of time to teach everything!

The comment Velyn made is, indeed, accurate--after three years, Dan B. and I are dating! Today is actually our one-month anniversary. (Of course, I feel like a middle schooler saying that, but it's true.)

One funny thing--the two of us were having dessert at Cafe Carmon in San Marco last night, when this guy and his dog walk by. Normal-looking man, and cute, well-behaved dog. But the guy is saying as he passes, "Regular Jacksonville people" in this disgusted tone of voice. Hmm, o-kay. A few minutes later, he walks by in the opposite direction, muttering, "Blankety-blank, whatever." And he wasn't talking into a cell phone. You know how you can get "slightly irregular" hose for a discount because the seams don't quite match up? Well, it seems like he was "slightly irregular." I just thought it was very amusing. Somewhat freaky, too. You don't usually expect normal-looking people to go around talking to themselves about the people they're passing in the street!

(Note: this posting is not meant to offend the guy with the dog, or anyone who knows him. I'm sure I do things that make people think I'm slightly irregular, too. It simply struck me as highly amusing that someone was disgusted at Daniel and me for being "regular Jacksonville people"!

I used to melt down at the end of each semester, trying to get everything done and keep a good GPA. Then, after somehow managing to get through a whole semester without the use of either my hands or my brain and not absolutely ruining my GPA, I quit doing that. Now, a year after graduating, I'm doing it again! I'm trying to put together an after-school violin program at Providence. I know I'm going to love it once I'm actually teaching. Right now, however. . . well, let's just say that administration is definitely not my spiritual gift. I've been trying to make tons of phone calls about it, and I'm no good at talking on the phone to people I don't know well. Also, the family of a little girl I teach violin to at another school just got illegally evicted from their house, and all their stuff, including the girl's violin, was stolen. I'm trying to get another violin for her (the landlord will have to pay for it), but right now she's having to use one that's way too big because most of the school's violins are in terrible shape. Between everything, I'm just about ready to become a minimalist underachiever and find a job where I can just show up every day and not have to deal with people. Don't worry, school (all of them) ends December 17th, so by next weekend I should be back to normal.

By the way, Ashlee Davis and I are playing in church on Sunday morning. We got the music just last Thursday, and a week is kind of a short time to get music performance-ready. But we seem to do our best on these last-minute performances! Well, we'll see.

Tonight on the way home from Orchestra practice I saw a shooting star! At first I thought it was an airplane or helicopter. But then I decided it couldn't be--with an airplane whose lights looked that big, I would have been able to see multiple lights--like on the wings and such. Same for a helicopter. And it looked somewhat flickery--like a big chunk of burning rock! I saw it for over a minute--I actually went a couple of blocks further than usual on Townsend so I could keep watching it. It started flickering more and getting smaller, and then went out. It was really cool! And no, I didn't think to wish on it--I was too busy watching it and thinking how cool it was. Isn't God great?

Yesterday's C&C Octoberfest was really good. Lots of imaginative costumes, too!

I've been teaching at Providence now for 2 weeks and a day, and right now it's my favorite place to teach so far. Even though I still don't have a desk of my own, the place I hang out lets me see lots of other teachers during my lunch and planning periods--a far cry from the other schools I've taught or observed in, where I was pretty much isolated from adult contact all day! I've been using rhythm sticks a lot, and it's amazing how excited these kids get over hitting two brightly colored sticks together! One parent even told me her son wanted rhythm sticks for Christmas! It's sometimes annoying to have other teachers doing stuff in the room while I'm teaching, but it's nice to have them tell me I'm doing a good job teaching their students.

Even though I'm really enjoying teaching, all my brain power is going to lesson plans and classroom management right now, so I haven't really had much time for deep thoughts. Besides which, hyper six-year-olds don't really inspire meaningful blog-writing!

Did lots of stuff today preparing for starting at Providence and Cathedral Arts Project, then started doing some work around the house. Then I got a call from a friend I haven't hung out with in quite some time. She needed to go shopping at the mall, and as we all know, shopping is an activity best shared with another person. (It's always good to have a second opinion or someone who can tell you that the outfit that looks really cute from the front looks really bad from the back.) So we went out, and spent quite some time in one store. But we both came away with some good purchases, and we had a wonderful time just hanging out. It was really nice spending some girl time shopping and talking!

Busy week so far. Monday I had an interview at Providence School, which got cancelled because of Jeanne. Tuesday I taught the Homeschool Orchestra (two groups, everything from violin to bass). Their usual teacher was out of town, so I got the opportunity to work with these kids Tuesday and then again on Friday. Wednesday (that's today) I actually interviewed at Providence. It was wonderful. They want me to teach music three days a week to the K through 3rd grade classes, and the school is actually small enough I'll be able to see all the kids within a week. The school environment seemed really great, and the other music teacher (who will be doing 4th grade and up) was really excited about having me come. She and the principal were very impressed with my portfolio, so if any of you UNF folks wind up doing education, the professors are telling the truth when they say that you *will* use your portfolio! Those bazillion hours of stress and work are (probably) worth it!

As I was driving home, I realized that, assuming I take this position, I will have five jobs. How crazy is that? Two different jobs teaching private violin lessons, then one teaching group violin lessons after school, then one substitute teaching, and teaching part-time at Providence. Of course, only the last two of those are more than two hours per week. The rest range from half an hour per week to two hours per week. And really, they're all teaching music--just different methods.

But I'm really praying about accepting the Providence position, and so far I think it's a go. Please pray I make the decision God wants me to, not just the one I want to do! There's even a possibility of the position becoming full-time later on, but right now I'm just concerned with doing the part-time position. I'll have to be "on the cart," which means I'll be moving around from room to room with just whatever musical instruments and such that I can fit on a small wheeled cart. That's not my favorite way to do things, but I'm willing to do it if God reassures me that it's going to work out.

Perhaps I'm just spazzing a little because of all the stuff I still have to do this week (make this decision, then do lots of prep work for starting my after-school string program). Just pray for me! I'm praying for all of you. (Yes I am--if you think I'm not, leave a comment and ask if I've been praying for you--or do it face to face!) Sorry if this post is a little incoherent--I'm tired right now.

Before I close, let me tell you something to do next time we have a hurricane in the middle of the night (shall we shoot for three months in a row?) Station yourself inside a big window where you can watch the wind whip the trees all around. Listen to the soundtrack from The Village. Whatever you think of the movie, Hillary Hahn is a great violinist. The rippling arpeggios fit perfectly with wind and storms. Then it gets to about track 4 or so, when they introduce Those We Must Not Speak Of, and the experience changes from a wonderful, wild storm to a spooky, scary storm! It's a little freaky when you're not expecting it!

Over the last few days we've been having trouble with the phone line here at my house. Periodically the phone will quit working--no dial tone, no nothing. When people try to call us, they just get a busy signal. The phone company is supposed to come fix it Wednesday, but until then we never know when we'll have a working phone and internet connection. So if you try to call Lauren or me and get a busy signal, keep trying, or maybe send an e-mail. I'm going to try to go to the library or someplace and check my e-mail whenever the phone line decides to work, and Lauren can check hers at school. Hopefully on Wednesday they'll be able to find and fix the problem. It's just really weird not to be able to pick up the phone and talk to someone!

Here's a notice for the few human beings who are as pale as I am: When you leave the beach to prevent sunburn, don't forget to close the sunroof at the same time, or you will still continue to bake! Yes, I didn't think about that, and yes, I am sunburned on my shoulders and knees. But I had a good time anyway. Danny B. had another day off today since schools were closed, and he's been wanting to go drive on the beach at Huguenot Park. I didn't have any lessons to teach today, so we went out there, and I found a few cool shells. But in the future I will consider sources of sunlight. And re-acquaint myself with my best friend, the bottle of 50 SPF sunscreen. To all of you with natural, built-in sunscreen, you don't know how lucky you are!

In other news, our neighborhood has regained power! My mom is still getting nervous every time we have a thunderstorm, though. If we were to lose power at this point, I'm sure it would be quite some time before they fixed it!

Enjoy the weekend, everyone.