22 and Single: A Coming of Age Story...In Progress

By Katie Kiesler

My name is Katie, and Im twenty-two years old and single. Some people might say, Whats the big deal? Youre only twenty-two. I wish I could confidently reply, Its not a big deal. Im completely content and loving the single life. But I cant. This past year, ten of my friends got married. It was awesome to see them with the person God had so clearly planned for them, but it was also hard not to envy their fairytale love stories. Did God forget about me? 22 & Single is simply a collection of journal entries as well as reflective commentary throughout my quest to live a God-honoring life in a time of discontentment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449756475

Katie Kiesler

Katie Kiesler is an entrepreneurial blogger, sharing excerpts of her life on KatiesJournal.org. She is captivated by relationships and has spoken with hundreds of women about their love lives—or lack thereof. She enjoys coffee shop conversations and sharing her journey with friends. Katie lives in Los Angeles, California.

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Katie Kiesler.

Cover Design by Jacy Corral

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1-[phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-5646-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-5647-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012910610

Contents

Prologue

Part 1 Unmarried

Part 2 My Favorite Men

Part 3 The Past

Part 4 The Future

Epilogue

Afterword

Acknowledgements

You did it: you changed wild lament

into whirling dance;

You ripped off my black mourning band

and decked me with wildflowers.

I’m about to burst with song;

I can’t keep quiet about you.

GOD, my God,

I can’t thank you enough.

-Psalm 30:11-12

The Message

Prologue

In 8th grade English, my teacher Mr. O made us journal for the first five minutes of every class period. Since then, I’ve never stopped. I wouldn’t say that it’s an addiction, but maybe. Even when I’m not journaling, my mind dictates to itself. I don’t know if this has always been the case and Mr. O just tapped into an already pulsating line, or if he is the one who is responsible for my never-ending self-talk radio. Regardless, I can’t turn it off, and I don’t really want to because, sometimes, God comes on the line.

I realized somewhere along the way that thoughts are insignificant unless you allow someone else to interpret their meaning. So, I started publishing some of my thoughts on a blog called Katie’s Journal. Sometimes I feel like a narcissist and am afraid other people probably think so too. I’m hoping they hear God through my words and not me… It freaks me out to know that other people are reading my thoughts.

Writing a blog, or attempting to, made me realize that I’m terrified of being known. (Writing a blog is about as much self-disclosure as one person can take…) But I do want to be known. I want to be noticed, and I especially want to be found, and it’s my dream to be discovered.

I think I just want to have a voice. I want to have a voice that gives other people a voice. I think that means that I want to be a microphone. I want to help other people’s stories to be so loud that they can’t be ignored. I want to give God a voice too—not because He needs me, but because I need Him. And if I know how much I need Him, maybe other people don’t know how awesome it is to know Him and that their lives could be microphones too.

Anyway, I’m writing this because I want more than anything for my life to count. I want to be real. The only way I know how to do that is