10 Best Decisions a Single Can Make

Bill Farrel

Description

Bill and Pam Farrel, bestselling authors of Men Are Like Waffles--Women Are Like Spaghetti (more than 260,000 copies sold) and The 10 Best Decisions a Couple Can Make, now lead single men and women through the ten most influential decisions they can make to embrace faith, fulfillment, and purpose.With candor and humor, the Farrels present ten decisions that will help singleslive a full life instead of a "life on hold" choose celibacy for the purpose of ultimate fulfillment choose community and activity over isolation or self-focuswake up to the significance of their life and the opportunities aheadgive their dreams, relationships, careers, and decisions to GodBiblical insights and life examples offer spiritual encouragement and practical guidance for those desiring a complete life as a single and as a person who is open to God's plan for their future.

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 février 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736940894
• Langue: English

Extrait

Being single in today s complex world isn t easy. With straightforward and practical wisdom, The 10 Best Decisions a Single Can Make offers biblical help, hope, and clarity. The Farrels have provided a much-needed resource for the single who desires peace and purpose in everyday life.
-L AURA P ETHERBRIDGE , speaker and author of When I Do Becomes I Don t and The Smart Stepmom
As a twentysomething who struggles with maintaining relationships, career, and my place in this world, it s people like the Farrels and books like The 10 Best Decisions a Single Can Make that help me get to where I m called to go.
-R ENEE J OHNSON , speaker and author of Faithbook of Jesus
Your next best decision is to buy this book! Encouraging, challenging, and packed with wisdom, this purchase is an easy decision.
-R ON L. D EAL , author of The Smart Stepfamily
An immensely practical and powerful book! In their wonderful style, Pam and Bill Farrel share their insights and wisdom to help singles make smarter choices and experience fewer regrets.
-G EORGIA S HAFFER , licensed psychologist and author of Taking Out Your Emotional Trash and How NOT to Date a Loser
Bill and Pam Farrel truly have a heart for singles, challenging, encouraging, and inspiring them to follow after God wholeheartedly and find fulfillment in His plan and purpose for them.
-C HRISTIN D ITCHFIELD , author of A Way With Words: What Women Should Know About the Power They Possess
The 10 Best Decisions a Single Can Make is packed with practical wisdom. The Farrels bless their readers with a biblical roadmap that empowers them to make wise and godly decisions, not only for choosing a life-partner but throughout their life journey, whether they stay single or get married.
-L ESLIE V ERNICK , licensed counselor and author of The Emotionally Destructive Relationship and Lord, I Just Want to Be Happy
The 10 Best Decisions a Single Can Make
Bill Pam Farrel

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Verses marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Verses marked MSG are from The Message. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Cover design by Left Coast Design, Portland, OR
Cover photo D. Hurst / Alamy
THE 10 BEST DECISIONS A SINGLE CAN MAKE
Copyright 2011 by Bill and Pam Farrel
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Farrel, Bill, 1959-
The 10 best decisions a single can make / Bill and Pam Farrel.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7369-2839-7 (pbk.)
1. Single people-Religious life. 2. Single people-Conduct of life. 3. Fruit of the Spirit. I. Farrel, Pam, 1959- II. Title. III. Title: The Ten best decisions a single can make.
BV4596.S5F364 2011
248.8 4-dc22
2010032226
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / VP-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments
C HAPTER 1: Decide to Be Decisive
C HAPTER 2: Decide to Walk with Jesus
C HAPTER 3: Decide to Celebrate
C HAPTER 4: Decide to Live in Peace
C HAPTER 5: Decide to Wait
C HAPTER 6: Decide to Define Relationships
C HAPTER 7: Decide to Live the Good Life
C HAPTER 8: Decide to Be an Influencer
C HAPTER 9: Decide to Be a Communicator
C HAPTER 10: Decide to Be a Competitor
Notes
More Resources from Bill and Pam Farrel
Other Great Harvest House Books by Bill and Pam Farrel
About the Publisher
About the Author
One One single person One selfless, sacrificing, solo life One powerful, profound, precious gift Brought to millions, thousands, hundreds Brought to you Life eternal Jesus The One
The One to follow
To all who are looking for hope, help, and happiness, may you find these things and so much more on the pages of this book.
We are profoundly grateful for all we have learned from our single friends, and we hope this book gives back some of the insight we have gained from those who are flying solo, whole, and purposeful.
To Zach and Caleb, our sons, and to all our nieces and nephews, God and one are a majority. May God do through you what is beyond you.
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:9-11)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
One. The first whole number. Complete, not a fraction, not a piece but a whole.
That s how we feel about all those singles who have contributed to this book.
You are transparent. To pen the words on the pages of this book, we have walked alongside you, sometimes literally, as we hiked mountain trails or walked along beaches and lake fronts pondering and praying over the needs, desires, and longings of a single person s heart. Thank you for allowing us to trek beside you and hear all that you were brave and honest to share. Your level of trust in us gave us the ability to wrap God s Word around the single souls worldwide so that they might know they are not alone, that God sees, God knows, and God cares.
You are courageous. We surveyed hundreds of you who have been in our audiences, read our books, and who are our personal friends. You asked us to tackle the hard questions of loneliness, sexuality, financial stress, as well as your place in the church and the world. We have done our best to step up to that call. Thank you for sharing your struggles, and sometimes your tears, so that others might gain from some of your personal losses, hurts, and pains.
You are inspiring. Your faith, your ability to trust God, your belief that He promises you a future and a hope, moved us and compelled us to tell others of your spiritual journeys so they too could find that same strength for life. Thanks for sharing not just your victories but also the steps, and sometimes the missteps, that created in you an overcoming, triumphant, warrior attitude for good. We were thrilled to see the seeds of greatness in you. Your healthy approach to being single holds together churches, organizations, businesses, and lives with your love and dedication, and for this we are grateful.
You are fun. We celebrated with you, dined with you, played sports and table games with you so you could give us a better glimpse of your lives. In focus groups we laughed and we learned. At dinner parties we enjoyed seeing and hearing your stories of a full, rich, wonderful life. Even as you shared the hard times of feeling lonely, marginalized, or frustrated, you did so with a sense of hope and anticipation about God s unfolding plan for you. We look forward to more parties, celebrations, conferences, and laughs with you all in the days ahead. You are great at creating community-thanks for letting us be a part of that community!
You are profound. One of the singles we respect dearly dared to ask what many want to know but are afraid to ask: Is there an aspect of knowing God I cannot enter? God uses marriage as an illustration of Christ and the church s relationship to Him. But I have never been a bride. Is there something in the physical closeness that translates into spiritual onesness I cannot enter into?
Our experience, after spending hours and hours, years and years, ministering to and alongside our single friends who love God is this: There is an intimacy, a closeness, a rich interpersonal dialogue with the Creator that those who are single have the opportunity to create. You are designed with the potential to lean entirely and completely on the God who loves you and created you. A resounding theme we heard you voice was, Sometimes I feel as if it s me and God against all odds. You are right, and because of this you can experience a special emotional and spiritual intimacy with God. The tendency of married people is to look to another person to ease our stress, lighten our load, and carry our burdens. We have witnessed that valiant singles naturally seek out the deep, precious, unique reliance on God and relationship to Him that all of us should desire. Thanks for desiring more of life and more of God.
You are amazing. We are especially grateful to the singles who work for our publisher, Harvest House, who came to us with the idea of The 10 Best Decisions a Single Can Make. Thanks for trusting us to write about your journey and for being a part of the team that created it. And many thanks for being the kind of healthy, whole, positive, merciful, giving, and visionary people others can look up to and emulate. May God continue to do through you what is beyond you so that others might discover lives of courageous faith.
One of our best decisions is knowing and loving you.
CHAPTER 1
Decide to Be Decisive
W e make our choices and our choices make us.
Your life is filled with questions only you can answer. These questions include:
Will you be content with or conflicted about being single?
What will you do for a career?
What kind of influence will you have on othe