The Joy and the Journey of Waiting (by Lisa)

True Love Waits: the commitment to stay single until you are ready for marriage. It is entrusting God with your love life. It is waiting patiently until God gives you Mr. Right. It is a choice.          

I am one of the many single people who have entrusted my love life to the Lord. I am one of the few who are called N.B.S.B. (No Boyfriend Since Birth). Yes, I am one of them. Why? It is because I believe that if someone out there is meant for you, if someone is planned by God for you, he or she will come no matter what happens. 

 I made my decision to wait for true love when I was still in high school, when temptations to have someone special by your side is most frequent, when that desire to be loved was strong, when immaturity was still in progress, when people my age were having their relationships with the opposite sex. Was it hard? Yes, it was and it still is.           

But why oh why did I commit to staying single until I am ready for a lifetime commitment? My parents did not forbid me to have a boyfriend. I always wanted to have my prince charming. I am young; I should be enjoying the teenage romance. I should experience falling in love; everyone around me does it, why don’t I have a boyfriend?          

I just don’t think that now is the time for that, and I believe that God has already planned someone for me to be with for the rest of my life, with the assurance of ‘forever.’           

Some may not understand, some may even think that I’m just scared. I’m not. Actually, I am braver than they are.  Why? Because committing to True Love Waits is something that not everybody does because they fear of being single for the rest of their lives, they fear that they won’t be loved, they fear that they won’t have that person meant for them so they go from one relationship to the other.           

I am not condemning anyone here. I committed to waiting for him (whoever he is) because I want to be able to give him 100% of me. Mind you, when you jump from one relationship to the other, it’s leaving the persons you have had a relationship with, a part of yourself, a part of that heart that you can never take back. I want to be able to say “I love you” with full confidence and no hesitancy. I want to be able to say those words really meaning the full sense of it.          

Some may wonder how I will be able to keep a relationship going if I didn’t experience it before. I am telling you, it’s not easy waiting for true love. I have to be patient, and patience is very important in a relationship. I have to take risks, I have to stay true to what I believe in, and with that comes determination and the lesson of holding on, which is needed to keep a relationship strong. There are temptations lurking at every corner, so I have to guard my purity and be wise in everything I do. I have to remember that the consequences of my actions will also affect my future husband. I then learn the value of being responsible. See? How could I not be capable of handling a relationship when I am already learning the values needed for it by waiting?  Others say that having short-time romantic relationships will train young for marriage, but how will it be a training ground if these relationships will only end in brokenness? What’s the point of experiencing something knowing that it won’t last ‘til the end? If you want training, try making yourself into the best person that you will be. Try reaching your goals. Try developing yourself to your fullest potential. Try being satisfied first as a person, try being stable. Work yourself to being mature. So the moment you meet the one, you are ready for a lifetime of being in love and enjoying the benefits of having a permanent relationship.          

So how’s my experience of singleness now? It is simply priceless. I won’t give anything for this freedom that I am enjoying. Being free allows me to meet and know different people, may it be different personalities, even different nationalities. I enjoy interacting with these people, learning how I should deal on a person-to-person level. I don’t have to worry if someone will get jealous or will feel bad whenever I’m surrounded by others. I have the luxury of time and the freedom to spend it in any healthy way I choose. I am constantly in love! With whom? With life, with God, with friends, with my family. I enjoy my money! I don’t have to worry about dates and presents. I buy whatever I want whenever I want it. I am free to share it with other people. I am free to give my love to the people around me, mostly to my God then to my family and then to my friends. I don’t have to load my phone all the time (laughs).  I am free to run wherever I feel like going. I can spread my wings and soar as high as I can! I can focus on my priorities and develop myself to the person God wants me to be. I am free to follow my dreams and free to fulfill my calling. I don’t have to be tied down by someone.  With all of this going on in my life, how can I not hold on to that promise of waiting?  

Well, I must say that waiting for The One may take forever, and somewhere along the way are hurts and struggles, but I am willing to take all of that in. Why? Because in the end I know that all I went through will be worth it, when I meet my prince with the sureness of a “happy-ever-after”.

* Lisa is a 17-year old communication student in the University of the Philippines – Los Baños.