Single, Christian, and Frustrated (but not a Friendgirl)

Far and away, the most widely-read articles on Spiritual Klutz address the issue of Christian singleness.  I get a lot of feedback from the singles who read them, the mothers who forward them to their grown children, and the angry readers who respond like I tried to rewrite the Old Testament.

One article in particular, called "Stop Settling for Scraps, Ladies," sparked a lot of interest.  The article still gets a lot of hits, thanks to Google searches like "why Christian women settle for crappy relationships."

The article addresses "friendgirls," that is, single women who find themselves providing intimate friendship to relationally needy men who never take the relationship anywhere romantically.

Is Santa God's Evil Twin?

Let's play a game.  I'll describe someone, and you tell me who I'm talking about.  Here are six clues:

I'm gonna gitcha!

1.  He's an old man with a flowing, white beard.
2.  He sees everything you do.
3.  He keeps a list of your deeds, good and bad.
4.  He lives in a far-off, magical kingdom that           you couldn't find if you tried.
5.  He never allows himself to be seen, and
6.  All the movies about him are fairly lame.

The person I've just described is . . . 

    (a) Santa Claus;

    (b) God; or

    (c) I can't tell the difference.

Father God, the Nose-Wiper

Sometimes, my baby girl thinks I'm an awful father.  I do mean things like laying her down to sleep, taking pieces of paper out of her mouth, and pulling her away from wall outlets.

Today, I'm awful because I'm trying to help her get over a cold.  It shouldn't be a big deal, but here's the problem: although my daughter likes to have her nose kissed, she does not otherwise want it to be touched.

This makes nose-wiping and booger-picking nearly impossible.  But the snot and booger issues are nothing compared to the problems we have when giving her medication.

Bible-reading? Prayer? Get Me Outta Here!

I have a confession to make: it's been about three or four weeks since I've read my Bible for more than 15 minutes.  Believe it or not, I actually like to read my Bible.  But unfortunately, it doesn't come naturally for me to sit down and focus on it - or to sit down, period.

Yet when I do sit down and prayerfully take it in, God's words have a powerful, lasting, heart-rending impact.  They make me conscious of His love, more willing to obey, and they inspire awe.

But unfortunately, the last time I tried to read it, I was on a Metro bus, standing up, and trying to keep from getting carsick.  Three minutes into it, I ended up texting back and forth with a buddy.  So much for Bible reading.