I distinctly remember telling him, I'm okay if you mean for me to be single the rest of my life.

God's story? Your life.

Unfolding short stories.

Picture a quiet valley in South Africa.

A woman sits alone seeking God in the stillness. She prays, surrenders, and then asks,

Lord, is there anything else you want to tell me?

Today's unfolding short story is from Jennifer Sakata.

She was 33, single, and she desperately wanted to find love and ultimately marriage.

So it was about 20 years ago now, and I was on a silent retreat, which anyone who's listening

knows me is probably laughing right now, thinking you went on a silent retreat.

Yes, I went on several of them while I was living in South Africa. I had received an award after my

seminary at Fuller, which allowed me to do a year of continued ministry, study, anything that was in preparation for the next season of my life.

So I was in South Africa for a year, and on this quiet retreat, I had gone off to a spot on my own,

of course, was looking for water, found a beautiful creek with all these tall grasses,

sat myself on a large rock that literally sat down

into a valley. There were hills all around me. And for about two hours, I sat and had some prayerful

conversation with the Lord. We talked about my past, my present, where I was in that moment, and about some future things.

And in particular, I was talking with him about the fact that at 33 years old, I was still single.

This was not at all the picture I had for my life.

I imagine that by now I would have met someone and been moved on with the,

quote, proverbial rest of my life. And as we sat, it was just this beautiful sweet space. And I have to

say there's something significant about sitting in the quiet, in the sillness, and making yourself available to however God reveals

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