Come over to Do Not Depart with me today, where I’m sharing about A call to all & the gift of hospitality. You’ll find out why people today are starved for hospitality, how to know if you have a special gift for it, and what to do if you don’t.

Life status doesn’t drive my friendships. In fact, I’ve always found myself blessed to have friends who are married and single. As I serve and minister around the world, I have the joy of knowing some remarkable single women who use their lives in fruitful ways and impact countless lives. I would say they are “spiritual mothers” to many, and I learn so much from them. We have a lot in common and find our lives richer because we don’t let male relationship status dictate our female relationship status.

Many of my single girlfriends live out a truth I see in many of my married friends:  Marital status has nothing to do with contentment or purpose in life.

A testimony of Living Whole

It was a single writer used by God to say, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Philippians 4:11-12)

While Paul doesn’t list “a woman” as one of the need vs. plenty items on his lift, I have to think it is his attitude of contentment that enabled this single saint to thrive in his life and ministry. Despite the fact that he wasn’t matched with a life’s partner, he lived whole.

Living Whole by Wendy Widder

Wendy Widder is a friend of mine who also happens to be a writer, a Bible scholar, and a single woman. In this month of introducing some great reads, her book Living Whole Without a Better Half has been re-released by Kregel Publishers. Great timing!

I’m not quick to give my single friends a book about being single. They know me well enough to know I wouldn’t give them a “single resource” without believing it would encourage and inspire. Wendy has always had a dry humor I’ve appreciated; I’m pretty sure it helped me get through my college coursework when we were classmates. She was a bridesmaid when I got to be the bride. Wendy is able to take the challenges of singleness, mix them with humor, and filter them through God’s truth to produce a read to sharpen the focus on singleness and abundant life.

More people today choose to live single than ever before. More of the Church is single than ever before. I would love to see married friends reading “Living Whole” to better understand the single friends around us. Since the second great commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves, (Mark 12:30-31) we need to be alert to understanding and considering “the other status” if we’re to love each other well.

If you’re single and need an injection of purpose in your life, or if you’re married and need an injection of understanding about singleness, you’ll find it in Living Whole. Wendy will talk about the illusive “happily ever after,” uncertainty and pain, dealing with rejection, navigating rebellion, getting over fear and distraction, and finding the way to purpose. This new version of the book provides study questions with each chapter, making it ideal for a small group or pair of friends to use together.

I love some of Wendy’s final words in Living Whole: “I may not have a diamond ring, a wedding date, or a bevy or bridesmaids, but I am loved. When I choose to love in return, it affects my passions, adjusts my perspectives, and dictates my pursuits.”

a GIVEAWAY!

I would love to give away a copy of Living Whole. I already left a copy with a dear friend in Romania. You can be single or married to win, but you have to want to live whole! Leave a comment and finish this sentence: “I can live whole because …”  I will pick a winner and announce the name this Friday on Feed Me Friday!

TWEET THIS > More people today choose to live single than ever before. http://wp.me/p2H4E4-1BR Living Whole w/out a Better Half @KregelBooks #Giveaway