Your guide to an abundant single life from ChristianSinglesToday.com
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Happy New Year, single friends! However you rang in 2008, I hope it was fun.
Round about midnight of December 31, I was sitting on my sister's couch watching a cool documentary about 1968, the year she was born. She and I were still awake, her five-year-old son was asleep across her lap, and her husband was asleep on the other couch. My two-year-old niece had turned in about an hour before. A rockin' New Year's Eve, no?
But it was very meaningful for me this year to be with family. Because four days before we said goodbye to 2007, our family said goodbye to my grandpa. He'd had a stroke two weeks before, and had been semi-lucid and half-paralyzed ever since. After going into respiratory arrest on December 28, he finally went to be with Jesus—and my grandma, who was no doubt thrilled to be reunited with her "Charlie Man."
We grieve our loss, and yet we rejoice in a life well lived. We say goodbye to a loved one, and we ring in a new year full of promise and hope. And between the tears and the "Happy New Year!"s, there are whispered lessons about the fragility and preciousness of life and about the need to savor whatever season we find ourselves in.
Today, just days into the clean slate of a new year, you and I are in a single season. As we all know, there are things to grieve and rejoice about that fact. My prayer is that we grieve effectively, rejoice abundantly, and do both with the comforting knowledge that our Heavenly Father has all these beginnings and endings and every season in between well in his watchful care.
New Year's Blessings!
Camerin Courtney
Camerin welcomes your feedback and brainstorms at:
SinglesNewsletter@ChristianityToday.com
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 Singleness' Seven-Year Itch
by Camerin Courtney
I'm sprawled on my back on my living room floor listening to the new Rita Springer worship CD in the dark. I'm playing the occasional air drum along to the upbeat first song when an old familiar feeling hits me: I love living alone.
It's the end of a long day of working, working out, paying bills, washing dishes—the usual routine. I'm soul-tired, but for some reason when I spied the new CD moments ago, I wanted to listen to it now. And I can.
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FAITH
What Evangelism Isn't
We need to stop mistaking other Christian activities for the spreading of the gospel.
by Mark Dever
WORK
Over the Limit?
Wise advice from the apostle Paul
by Earl Palmer
HOT ISSUES
Guys and Dads
Elephants in puberty are like men without fathers, says Donald Miller.
interview by Rob Moll
 How You Live, CD
Point of Grace's sound is as fresh as and better than ever on
12 original upbeat songs addressing issues with
relationships, self-esteem, and maximizing your life. |
 Love's Unending Legacy, DVD
The fifth installment from Janette Oke's beloved series.
Two years have passed since Missie's husband died. Can
she let go of the past and embrace the future? |
 Health Matters
NEW! Do you need inspiration and motivation to take better care of yourself? This guide provides informative articles and thought-provoking questions about general as well as specific health issues. Introductory price: $1.99 |
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Over the recent holidays, did any of your relatives ask about your love life?
- yes, it's like tradition!
- yes, but that's not typical
- no
- I didn't hang out with relatives this year
Vote here, and see how your answer compares to others'. |
Are you making any New Year's resolutions this year?
- nah: 48%
- yes, bring on the new me: 45%
- yes, but I'm doubtful I'll last past February: 7%
Total votes: 293
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The Gift of Gratitude
TV news anchor Deborah Norville has uncovered some surprising benefits of saying "thank you."
I Was a Witch
But all my occult practices never brought me peace.
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"Watch Me"?
What do others observe in you in the rough and tumble of life?
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Hour of Decision
How can I know I'm a Christian if I can't remember when I first responded to the gospel?
Remembering Benazir
A UK Christian mourns the charismatic Pakistani leader.
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