Written by Liliana Henríquez, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Colombia
Recently, I met with a friend and sister from the church to visit since we haven’t seen each other for a while. She talked to me about her children, how she was doing with online classes, her job… well, her whole life. I just listened to her, smiled and expressed my joy for the good news that she has shared with me. After an hour, she asked me how I was doing, my answer was short and simple: "Thank God, I'm fine, working from home and my family is fine." That was it. We said goodbye, but before ending the Zoom meeting, she told me: "next time you have to tell me more about yourself because I feel like I talked too much." I smiled and we ended the meeting.
After meditating on that, I realized that my life is really very SIMPLE. I do not have anecdotes about children to tell, I have no responsibilities to others beyond my regular work as a teacher and psychologist, and my daily routine is almost unalterable because it depends only on me. From that anecdote with my friend, I came to the conclusion that perhaps God has allowed us single women the opportunity to have a relatively "simple" life, in order to help others who have complex lives.
This reminds me of Galatians 6:2 which tells us: "Bear one another's burdens..." This is much easier to do if one of the two parts is lighter than the other. If both are fully loaded, they won't be of much help to each other. So, I realized that being single and with a simple life is a great help for the church because there are many sisters with very heavy emotional loads who need comfort, encouragement or simply a sister willing to listen to them to feel less burdened. That too is missionary work. Because mission is not limited to preaching the Gospel to the unsaved, but it is also about preaching and affirming the Gospel to the believer.
The union of a simple life with a complex life is a practical example of Proverbs 27:17, iron sharpening iron, where both parties build up and help each other grow in Christ. So, if today you, the single sister reading this, are wondering what you can do in the church, I encourage you to be that sister who helps to ease the burdens of those who feel burdened. We single women are more useful than we think! Let us serve in the way that God has called us to serve with heart and devotion.