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I had to be wearing a bright orange vest. Working "security" at my town's annual fair. Stationed near the row of porta-potties. Of course.

That's where I was when I ran into Laura, who I used to refer to as Beautiful Laura when we were in a singles Bible study together about five years ago. As in "I think another guy's crushing on Beautiful Laura." She was just that pretty, sweet, and seemingly perfect.

So, when I ran into her recently, years after our group had disbanded, I was sporting a bright orange vest and telling the locals they couldn't take beer out of the festival area—not even to the group of portable bathrooms just outside the gate. This task earned me and the friend who'd roped me into this dubious volunteer position the moniker "The Porta-Potty Police" by one oh-so-funny guy waiting in line for the bathrooms toward the end of the evening.

Beautiful Laura, on the other hand, was sporting her new baby daughter in one of those front-loading baby carriers strapped to her chest, as well as a rock roughly the size of the bag of Kettle Korn I'd snarfed earlier in the day. Her cute husband was nearby.

I almost didn't say hello. Okay, well, I didn't. My friend Kate was the one who spotted her and said, "Isn't that Laura?" I feigned surprise and muttered, "Why yes, I think it is." Before I could duck behind the growing bathroom line, Kate was calling to her. "Laura! Hey, Laura. Remember us? Kate and Camerin from Bible study!"

"Oh, yes!" she said, flashing a genuine smile and bringing her little brood our way. She introduced us to her hubby, also an alum of our Bible study, and her little six-month-old daughter, who was cooing sweetly. They'd just moved into a house a few blocks away, and well, obviously we could tell the rest of what she'd been up to (i.e., getting hitched and birthing the sweet bundle before us).

"So what about you guys?" she asked, kind as ever. "What's new with you?"

Now, I have to say, next to the "So, why aren't you married yet?" question, this one haunts me most. I understand that it's a perfectly logical and thoughtful question for people to ask. I don't blame the askers at all. I just don't like the way I get tongue-tied trying to answer it. Let's see, what's new? Well, I'm in the same job, driving the same car, living in the same one-bedroom apartment, attending the same church. No, not married yet (cue the awkward pause).

A similar feeling tugs at me at birthdays (especially the milestone kind), New Year's Eve, high school reunions, and any time I run into a long-lost friend. Whatever the situation, whether the question comes from someone else or from within myself, the underlying query is the same: What do I have to show for my life?

This question gets tricky for us singles. It can look so easy for married people and those with children to point to these important people in their life and have instant purpose, instant legacy. I think we all want to make a lasting difference with our lives, a desire I'm sure God smiles upon. But there are times when we singles can think our lives haven't amounted to much, that if we never marry, our existence on this earth will have been just a brief blip on the screen of history. Thankfully, as Kate and I kept talking with Laura, I realized how wrong that thinking is.

In answer to Laura's question about what's new, I told her about the chi-chi gift store my friend Kate had single-handedly opened six months before, a feat that still impresses me to no end. And then Kate told Laura about the book I wrote last year. As the conversation continued, I brought up the English as a Second Language class I volunteer with and the ministry to post-moderns I've been involved with at my church. Laura seemed happy for our successes, we cooed at her daughter a bit, then her family wandered off to enjoy the rest of the fair.

Later, as I chided myself for being embarrassed to be seen in my not-so-glamorous security role on a Saturday night and as I replayed the conversation with Kate and Laura in my mind, I began to rethink the kinds of legacies we humans can create. Yes, a loving Christian family is a great thing to show for one's time on this earth. But I also thought of all the customers whose day my friend Kate brightens with her warm smile and Christ-like kindness. I thought of the refugees and immigrants in my ESL class and the people who have read my book and the ways God has hopefully blessed them through me.

I also thought of the young single woman I saw at my favorite coffee shop the other night, leading what appeared to be her new-believer friend in a Bible study. And I thought of the many people my former roommate touched during her two years teaching English and building strategic friendships with unbelievers in Mongolia.

With all these unmarried folks and so many more in mind, I began to think about the freedom we have as singles to leave a vast array of legacies in this season of life—to children, coworkers, homeless people, unbelievers, the possibilities are endless. Whether it's temporary or life-long, I want to be able to look back at my singleness and say, "That's the lasting impact God allowed me to make."

This whole line of thinking has made me consider more strategically how I live my life here and now, realizing that lasting meaning and impact can start now, not on some far-off someday when and if a husband and kids enter the picture. Lately I've been asking God to show me the lasting work he wants to do in and through my singleness. I'm excited to see where he leads.

As I was drifting off to sleep that night after the fair was over and I'd turned in my lovely orange vest, a song we used to sing in my college fellowship group ran through my mind. The lyrics—"He has shown you, o man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee. But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God"—come straight from Micah 6:8. With these goals in mind, instead of my own or this world's, I have a feeling I'll leave exactly the kind of legacy God desires.

Camerin welcomes your feedback and brainstorms at: SinglesNewsletter@ChristianityToday.com

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Read more from 'Single Minded'

Table For One: The Savvy Girl's Guide to Singleness by Camerin Courtney You'll love this book by the Singles Channel's own Camerin Courtney! It's an honest and upbeat look at the emotions, expectations, joys, frustrations, and privileges of the single life, that will delight and inspire you! Buy it today!