1 Corinthians 7:17 says: each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. Singleness is not a waiting room. It is a season with its own call, its own freedoms, and its own disciplines. The woman who spends her single years waiting to begin her real life will arrive at marriage — if she gets there — having wasted years that had their own purpose. Barbara Hughes calls this a gift, not because it is always easy, but because it is real.