Let\u2019s start from the beginning: a very good place to start. For me, it all started with \u201cThe Sound of Music.\u201d<\/p>\n
When I was only 7 years old, I watched this iconic film for the very first time. From the opening sequence to the final, triumphant notes, I was enamored with the beauty of it all.<\/p>\n
Early in the movie, a question came to mind. As several characters pondered how to solve a problem like Maria, I asked who all the women in long black dresses were. My mom whispered that they were nuns.<\/p>\n
Nuns? None of what? The word was foreign to me, and I requested more of an explanation. It\u2019s a bit of a complex concept to explain to a young child growing up in a Protestant home, so my mom responded in as simple terms as she could.<\/p>\n
\u201cA nun is a woman who gives her entire life to God,\u201d she replied. \u201cShe never gets married and lives with a lot of other nuns for the rest of her life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giving your whole life to God? A never-ending sleepover with all your friends? Avoidance from boys for the rest of your life? There was only one thought that crossed my young mind: Sign me up!<\/p>\n
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how my dream of growing up to become a nun was born. It seemed like the dream life, and I aspired to live it.<\/p>\n
This ambition didn\u2019t last, of course. As time passed and I developed a faith of my own, I realized my spiritual beliefs didn\u2019t fully align with Catholicism. However, that wasn\u2019t the only reason my dream career shifted from nunhood. As I entered teenhood, the prospect of remaining unmarried for the rest of my life didn\u2019t just lose its appeal; it became the worst possible fate I could imagine.<\/p>\n
For years, I simply knew that, by my mid-20s, I would have a husband, a nice house and perhaps a dog or two. That\u2019s just how it works, right? You go to a Christian college, meet your spouse, graduate and get married. That\u2019s how it worked for my parents; I figured that was how life would work for me.<\/p>\n
I had fallen into the temptation of telling God what my plans were instead of listening to his. I\u2019m ashamed to admit that I felt as though God owed me the life I thought I deserved.<\/p>\n
As time passed and a few relationships ended sans ring, I slowly came to terms with the realization that not everyone gets married, certainly not right out of college. For much of sophomore year, I worked on accepting what felt almost like defeat: I may not get married, and I would have to be OK with that.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, my focus continued to shift past this dismal acceptance. After all, we aren\u2019t called to live in dreary resignation; we are called to lead lives full of joy and trust. I\u2019m beginning to realize that some incredible opportunities may be even more accessible without a spouse. The point is that I don\u2019t know what lies ahead; there are countless, exciting possibilities.<\/p>\n
I recognize now that I am not promised marriage. I recognize that accepting the possibility of singleness is not equivalent to dejectedly waving a white flag of surrender. I also recognize how quickly change can take place. Everything could be totally different in a year.<\/p>\n
God didn\u2019t guarantee me a husband or the life I dreamed of having for years. God guaranteed me that he has plans for my prosperity, hope and a future \u2014 no matter what.<\/p>\n
And I am pretty excited about them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let\u2019s start from the beginning: a very good place to start. For me, it all started with \u201cThe Sound of Music.\u201d When I was only 7 years old, I watched…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15102,"featured_media":11117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-opinions"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}