Relationship Status

So it's a New Year, which means it's time for ads for tax preparation companies to start popping up everywhere. I just so happened to get forms in the mail this week. Often times when you're filling out forms, applications, or updating your facebook page (which I don't actually have), you will come across a neat little section labeled Relationship Status. Underneath the heading are some options beside nice little boxes for you to check. Naturally, I check the single box, but I started to think about it. Is single really the best word to describe my relationship status?

We are created in God's image, and He desired relationships with us enough to sacrifice His Son. Based on that, I think it is pretty safe to say that we are created for relationships--with God and with people. How have we let that term, relationship, become so narrowly defined that it only seems to apply to whether or not we have a spouse or a significant other (which is a term that kind of bugs me, but that's a whole different discussion)?

My roommate woke me up at 2:00 this morning because she wasn't feeling well. We ended up in the ER at a local hospital. Shortly after we arrived, I called a friend of mine who works there--and was at work--to let him know I was in fact sitting at his place of employment (this naturally confused him a bit at first since I usually don't call him at 2:30 in the morning, usually call his cell phone, and usually don't call from a hospital phone). Shortly after I called, he was downstairs with us in the ER. Our conversation actually went like this:

Me: They just brought us back into a room.

Him: I just have to hang some narcotics and then I'll be down.

My initial reaction was "why can't I get a job where I get to say things like 'hang some narcotics,'" but this reaction was shortly followed by relief. My roommate usually handles pain really, really well so for her to actually say she needs to be in an emergency room means that she is in A LOT of pain. Plus, I've never had to rush someone to a hospital before. Needless to say, I was kind of freaking out (on the inside, obviously, since I was doing my best to stay cool and calm for her), so having a friend around, even though he couldn't stay that long, made me feel much, much better.

When her doctor came in, I realized that his son and I were friends in high school and that his other son is now a student at the school where my roommate and I both teach (he was actually in my roommate's class last year). Then, I found out that the resident was in a class with one of my friend's brothers who is also in his residency right now. My roommate's parents got there around 6:30, and when I left at 7:00, my friend walked me out to my car.

Here, I thought, in just a few hours, I've seen evidence of so many relationships. Roommate, teacher, old friend, new friend, daughter.

So as I sat in an emergency room holding my roommate's hand and telling her a bunch of stupid stories to distract her from her pain, I couldn't help but think to myself that, while neither of us has a boyfriend right now, we are both far from single.