I Don't Date. I Phone Date.

I have fussed a lot about how lonely I feel in this season of singleness. In my heart of hearts, I do want to get married and have a "forever friend," but the truth is that I have friends, but don't always spend time with them. And that's on me. The issue for me is that most of my best friends live out of state and in other time zones. Calling them requires time and coordination and work. And sometimes I just don't want to make sacrifices or put the work in.

Lately, however, I've been trying to make an effort to reach out to my friends, to tell them that they matter. And that often means scheduling dates, phone dates. If I think I am one day ready to commit to getting to know a potential future spouse through dating, I must be able to commit to scheduled times and places to call my friends. It's important!

Week by week, I've started to carve out a little more time, give up a few more evenings, and pick up the phone to talk to people I love. I've talked to both my best friends and another close friend and had back and forth texts with several others in the past month or so. And you know what? The time has been so worth it! Sure, not everyone responds when I reach out, but the conversations I have had have filled my heart, and I hope blessed my friends as well.

Hard as this season of singleness has been, it has some perks. I have time. I have resources. I am the only one relying on my schedule. So no, I don't date. I phone date.