Jul 23 2009
published article: Thoughts from the Ship of Singleness
The position I find myself in is one of watching my friends face into futures that are taking shape, with comforting lines and seemingly predictable challenges, while my own future still looks like an open horizon at sea. Light and darkness in a sky that goes on forever.
Often I feel like a capable captain aboard my little ship, but other times I sit down very small and swallow a lump in my throat as I face out at that big, big world. The waves lapping at my boat are the only sound.
Still, as unsteady as my footing can feel, being out at sea is an adventure with a lot to teach me. So what am I learning out here on my little ship?
“Thoughts from the Ship of Singleness,” my latest article, is up on Boundless.org. Suzanne Hadley was kind enough to post about it on Boundless Line, so you can also read her thoughts and some general discussion on the topic of singleness here.
I read the article, and it was amazing! It’s great advice that I think all single christian women should read.
Hello,
I’ve just read the article and I had to say, thank you.
It is beautiful.
Not just the content which is pretty relevant and insightful but the way you write…i love the way you use words and express yourself. Beautiful.
You took me back to my childhood days when I read Anne of green gables.
Thank you, you made my day.
PS: I’d love to able to write that well one day. what advice can you give (to a 29year old female doctor/surgeon in South Africa. oh and single too.) Where and how do i begin writting.
Thanks so much for commenting!
Dache, L.M. Montgomery is one of my favourite authors, especially the “Anne” books. So that compliment means a lot!
As for advice, two things: First, read. Sounds like you already do that, and Montgomery is a good place to start :). Second, write. Just write — anytime, anywhere, on the computer or in a notebook or whatever. Write about anything. If it interests you, if you’re passionate about it, write about it. Stories or just thoughts or essays or anything you like. There is no wrong way to begin.
If you want to learn the finer points of the craft, most books on writing will help you think through what you’re doing. But I’d spend a lot of time writing before I started looking to the “experts”; otherwise you might just get confused or overwhelmed or lose your own edge.
Thank you for sharing an exceptional bit of insight. Wish I could say all I want to about ships and the vision of setting sail in life ! In prayer many months back (some time before you wrote this article), I became aware of a beautiful wooden ship waiting to take to the seas. On board was a friend, a Helper. I think of this person as a type of the Holy Spirit who is our Helper, Counsellor, Comforter, constant Companion and closest friend. I was strongly reminded of the song by Crosby Stills & Nash, The Southern Cross. How too this was used in McGillivray-Freeman’s Imax film Coral Reef and how in an aerial oversight their yacht “she’s got eighty foot of the waterline and nicely making way” came sailing into Papeete. Nestled in a bay among the mountains in Tahiti. It was a powerful impression, a vivid image, which came to mind during that time of prayer.
I wrote to a missionary friend in Spain and he responded descriptively, speaking of the Lord calling to the Body of Christ, to go out, set sail, reach out to the farthest islands and to seek this woman portrayed by the song, the woman who is the Bride of Christ. And he had been praying for the islands and the call to go.
Your beautiful passage on the ship of singleness, in which you marry the purpose of God to the present condition in which we find ourselves, is exceptional. It touches a chord in one’s heart and calls out to bring one into a closer audience before the Lord. That sense of purpose, of being all at sea for Him, and knowing that the horizon is the Lord’s and all that it contains.
I prayed at the beach once, around the time of this article, and while praying looked inside a beautiful golden ring, and saw there a vast, blue, tranquil, endless sea. What this described to me was the heart surrendered to God, and your article describes it perfectly.
Thank you, Rachel ! and I hope to read more along this intriguing and refreshing pathway you have made.
Brent, thank you for the beautiful comment. That was really encouraging. The Lord continues to lead me into new horizons. He is wonderful!