In 1958, the leading story in one of the McCall’s monthly magazines was “129 Ways to Get a Husband.” Concerned, apparently, about the vast number of single ladies in the country, a team worked together to compile a list of ways that women could find their mate. Some of the ideas are hilarious, some brilliant, and others downright manipulative. A few of the ideas include stowing away on a Navy ship, going to Yale, wearing a bandaid, crying softly in the corner and carrying around a hat box.

Plagued by singleness, now into my late 30s, I have been thinking about testing out these theories and documenting the results for years now. Everyone who I have talked to about the idea thinks its brilliant. They, however, are neither single nor the one attempting these nefarious and/or asinine schemes. I also wondered how I would tell a guy that I actually liked about the “test.” What if he showed up on #97? Would I keep trying to date other guys so that I could finish out all 129? It felt a little much like “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.”

A year ago I was on my way to marriage and I could not have been happier. One day we were planning our future together and the next day he was gone. I was devastated because my hope had been riding on this relationship. My heart was shattered. A few days after he broke up with me, I discovered I had (have) a (very) large tumor in my face. Who has a tumor in their face and doesn’t know it? That’s weird. Life got shitty fast. Did I mention the year? It was 2020, the year we shall never speak of again!

As I processed through these difficult things, I found that the only hope I had of healing was in my relationship with God. Reading through the prophets into the Gospels we get a sense of His faithfulness and goodness, despite devastating circumstances. This new hope is what carried me through the fall and into the winter.

As I looked back through the list of 129 Ways, I realized two things. One is that marriage is pretty much off the table right now for me, at least for the next several years. The second is that many of these “tricks” have spiritual meanings or implications in pursuing God and others would just make life interesting.

So here we go… Every Monday you can expect an update from me on one of these. Some will be things I have *actually done* and others will be commentary. A few are ongoing projects… like losing weight or going to different golf courses. Which one of these are you most looking forward to reading about?