Author Archives: HopefulGirl

‘Dear HopefulGirl – I’m getting married!’ said the message from one of my Facebookers. ‘He’s younger than me, but he’s persuaded me it doesn’t matter and he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. I wanted to share the news because you know how long I’ve prayed for a Christian husband. I can hardly believe it’s really happening!’

‘One of the hardest things about being single is having no one to go on holiday with,’ said the Facebook post. ‘I can’t imagine going away on my own, so I haven’t been on holiday for years. What do other singles do, HopefulGirl?’

‘I’d like to try internet dating,’ confided a friend at church, ‘but I’ve heard stories about scammers, even on Christian websites. I’m a trusting person, HopefulGirl, and I’m not all that web-savvy. I’m worried I’ll be taken in by a conman.’

‘I’d never marry a non-Christian, but what about someone from a different denomination?’ mused a woman I met at a Bible week. ‘I go to a charismatic Christian fellowship, and I’ve starting dating an Anglo-Catholic man. He’s lovely and very Godly, but his church is so different from mine, it’s like another religion! I’m wondering if it can ever really work between us.’

“I don’t feel any chemistry with the people who’ve contacted me online, so I haven’t corresponded or met up with any of them,” said the email. “My friends think I’m being too fussy, but isn’t sexual attraction important in a relationship? If the spark’s not there, it’s not there!”

‘I want to meet someone and get married, but I simply don’t have time for online dating and singles events,’ said the Facebook message. ‘What with working long hours and volunteering at church, I don’t have much spare time. Besides, I believe we should be good stewards of our time, and there are better ways to use it than chasing around trying to find a partner. There must be another way.’

‘As a single person, I dread Christmas,’ wrote an on-line pal. ‘My family live too far away to visit, and my friends disappear to spend time with their own families. For me, Christmas and new year are the loneliest times of the year…’

‘How long do you think courtship should last, HopefulGirl?’ said the email. ‘I’m engaged to my girlfriend of five months, and my parents are worried I’m rushing into marriage. Meanwhile, my sister gave her boyfriend of four years an ultimatum in 2009, saying if he didn’t propose that year, they’d be over. They’re still together, and he still hasn’t proposed!’