Humour
Christian & Single in January: “Just Focusing on God … Maybe a Godly Spouse, Too”
Justin Namoro
January at TWU arrives with tons of ambition and unresolved feelings. Christmas season ends, the new year arrives and suddenly everyone is “focusing on God.” Not dating, not talking, just “discerning.” Very intentionally.
For the guys, heartbreak has a clear solution: lift heavier weights. January 1 arrives and suddenly the gym is filled with a bunch of testosterone-fuelled men who have decided to live more disciplined lives. Emotional damage is no longer processed— it is programmed. Sets are counted. PRs are chased with the same intensity they once had for overthinking one text message.
“I’m just locking in,” he says, benching 225 lb. for the first time, no thumbs on the bar. Translation: he did not get the girl he asked out at Christmas. He tells his bros he is gonna focus on discipline, growth and becoming the man God is calling him to be. His prayers are short, efficient and usually happen between sets. He asks for strength, patience, clarity and for God not to give him the toughest battles. And maybe, if it is God’s will, a beautiful stay-at-home trad wife who is kind, supportive and impressed by his bench.
Meanwhile, the gals are coping differently. She also did not get the guy, but instead of creatine, she buys a concerning number of candles. She journals every thought she has. Worship playlists get sadder. She is focusing on her relationship with God and is also praying very specifically.
Her prayers include gratitude, surrender to God’s will and requests for a handsome six-foot husband devoted to Christ. Someone emotionally available, who leads and listens well and looks good in a quarter-zip. Preferably someone who loves going to chapel but does not raise his hands too high. Every overused Bible verse makes an appearance. Yes, including Jeremiah 29:11. It is highlighted—possibly twice.
She waits very intentionally.
And so January continues to kick off the spring semester at TWU. Everyone is growing, healing and “waiting on God.” The guys are getting jacked. The gals are getting more emotionally articulate. Both swear they are content in singleness while quietly praying for the same thing every day. They sit in chapel, sing the same worship songs and interpret the same lyrics differently. No one ever makes the first move. No one wants to rush God. No one wants to be seen in the atrium explaining a failed talking stage. And when it finally works out for any of them, they will smile and say the same thing with sincerity: