“Why are you single?”

“Do you have a husband?”

It was one of the first questions a new neighbor asked me when I bumped into her last night.

“No, ma’am,” I told her kindly.

“Why not?” Her neck snapped. “Why are you single?”

I opened my mouth and stumbled. It wasn’t the first time I was asked the question, but it threw me off at 9:00p.m. right beside a dumpster.

So an hour later, I started an Instagram story stream out of playful curiosity. “What do you say when people ask you, ‘Why are you single?”’

Responses flooded in. Some funny, some bold, some open and honest. I didn’t have enough time to respond to them all publicly, but I thought about them all day.

“Men are from Mars.”

“No one has been good enough for my family… or good enough to me.”

               “Can’t nobody handle this yet!”

“Cause God likes to watch me suffer.”

In a few short weeks, I will eat a Christmas Eve dinner at my uncle’s house. And before Opa has a chance to eat too much cheese, my family will make jesting comments about my love life—or lack thereof.

I’ve grown out of my anger and defensive one-liners. I’m not offended anymore. But it’s something that unquestionably comes when I don’t have a picture of a boy to show them.

I know we’re about to kick off the holiday season. And too many people will ask a question that so many are already struggling to answer for themselves. “Why are you single?”

So from now until January 2^nd, my book, Gluten Free Mac & Cheese will be available for 20% off. I can’t stop the questions that are coming, and I can’t give you the answer that’s truest for you. But hopefully, there’s something in this book that eases the melancholy you taste in your answer.

To take part, all you have to do is purchase the book from the Kingdom Winds Marketplace, using one of three coupon codes (depending on which vendor you purchase from). And if you don’t need or want the book, I encourage you to ask your single loved ones a question so much more important than their relationship status:

“So, are you going to have a second slice of pie?”

Available Coupon Codes:

whyareyousingle

whynot?

secondsliceofpie

Featured Image by Drew Coffman

About the Author

Rachael’s testimony can be summed up in four little words: from ash to glitter. She's witnessed Jesus transform her brokenness into extravagance and now she brings her ‘extra’ self to boardgames, lip-sync battles, and costume contests. Currently, she lives in South Carolina where she works as the Membership Engagement Coordinator for Kingdom Winds and devotes time to writing, teaching, and crafting dangly earrings.

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