Waiting on "The One"

I'm a total foodie, so naturally one of my favorite things to do is cook. Not so much bake – but cook. I love cooking pesto chicken and lemon baked tilapia and roasted acorn squash and turkey meatballs and, well, basically anything nourishing and healthy.

So, yes, I like to cook. One problem I often have, however, is how expensive food can be! Especially considering I like to buy organic, healthy foods as much as possible.

My debit card statement at the end of each month is rather embarrassing because of all the expensive foods I buy! I mean, green juices are not cheap, people!

That said, let's play pretend and imagine how wonderful it would be to have a MAGICAL kitchen that had everything I could ever want at all times. I could just snap my fingers and –  voilà!  – brown rice California rolls and a green juice would appear! I could have fresh peaches from Georgia and ripe avocados from California and steamy black coffee from Guatemala. How wonderful would that be? It would save me trips to Whole Foods, boatloads of cash, and tons of time.

Let's put on our thinking caps and just pretend I have this glorious kitchen with every type of food at my leisure. I would never run out, and I'd have enough to give freely to all my friends and family.

Now, let's say a man comes to my door. He's kind of scruffy looking, but he's my age and not competely unattractive. He's holding a wrapped-up cheeseburger from McDonald's in his hands, asking if I want to eat it. He even offers to have one brought to me every day.

The only kicker is... I have to do everything he says, all day long, forever. The burger smells decently appealing, as all cheeseburgers do, but I obviously decline, knowing I could have a fresh, organic, grass-fed burger from my kitchen within seconds. It would taste better and my waistline would thank me. Plus, why would I want to be this guy's servant all for a measly cheeseburger? Um, gross?

Let's now re-imagine this scenario: I don't have that kitchen after all. Imagine I was starving and hadn't eaten in days. Imagine I'm alone, frantic, and malnourished. That burger would look much more appetizing. In fact, it would look rather necessary. Even if the man asked me to do what he said, I would still consider taking the burger. I'd need it to live! Who cares if it's unhealthy and I'd be at the mercy of this man... I would take anything to stay alive.

OK so - random story, great message. As a young, single woman, I know I want to get married. I want to find my Mr. Right and live happily ever after and gallop away into the sunset. Granted, that doesn't mean I should say yes to every guy who asks me out. It doesn't mean I should fall for the first guy I lay my eyes on. I should wait it out until Jesus gives me the 'green light'  in my heart.

The story of the burger is like our love lives. If I am overflowing with love to the point where I can't help but give it away, I don't need to settle for cheap, unhealthy love. I want my heart to be like that kitchen. I want to be so fulfilled with God's love that any solicitation for "fast-food love" will seem laughable.

I shouldn't need to settle for a "cheap-o cheeseburger" kind of love when I have God's fountain of love flowing in my heart.

I want people to know they can come to me to feel loved, cherished, and adored because I have more than enough kindness to pour into others.

I don't want to be starving and desperate for love. I don't want to be at the mercy of a random man just because he's offered to give me a metaphorical Big Mac every day to sustain my life. My life is already sustained to the point of ecstacy because of Jesus. If anything, I will not settle until I meet a man with his own magical Jesus kitchen in his heart.

Instead of frantically searching for a man to sustain us with cheap love, we can focus on opening up our hearts to Jesus Christ. Before we know it, we will have a "love kitchen" that can fill up the most desperate of souls. Jesus alone can build that kitchen in our hearts. We don't need to worry about finding a man with a measly Big Mac to feel cherished. That'll surely just make us feel even more helpless, obsessive, and lonely.

We are fine all on our own. God's love is all we need, so why settle for Mr. Wrong?