The perfect man

I was in the car with my dad when my mum called his cellphone. 

Me : *cough cough* (I was sick)

Mum : Eh, I can hear another woman's voice. Who's that in your car ah??

Dad : That's just my ex girlfriend's daughter.

Mum : Ohh, couldn't get the girlfriend so now going for the daughter is it???

Me : *smh* Old people these days... *sigh*

Over the years I've heard (and been in!) many discussions about "the perfect man". Coming from an all girl school, at one point it seemed like it was the only thing we ever talked about.

My friend Stef and I even made a list of a 100 or so characteristics/traits that we wanted in our future husbands. In fact, ours almost matched up. We wanted someone who was among others;

-Understanding but not too understanding

-Nice but not too nice

-Handsome but not too handsome (I mean, a Sylvester Stallone lookalike would be just fine, thank you very much. Who knew partial facial paralysis could be so...sexy?)

-Muscular but not too muscular ( I guess that rules out steroid users...Bye Sylvester?)

-Violent but not too violent (as in a Rambo/Terminator way)  o_0

-Smart but not too smart 

-Rich but not too rich (hmmmm)

I've even heard Michelangelo's David being called the perfect man!!

Err yeah, I don't think so.....

As we got older, we realised that some expectations were downright preposterous. Well, some of us anyway. We realised that sometimes brains and brawn don't always go together (or absent altogether in yours truly!) A kind heart didn't always follow a genius doctor or a rich entrepreneur. So we reformed our list and chose the most important characteristics we wanted.

As we grew older still, out of despair some of us were more inclined to throw everything out of the window and settle for the first one that came our way. It was more convenient this way than to wait patiently for an indefinite proportion of time for someone who may or may not show up, only to cry about it later.

Then there's God, the supposed author of all love stories and we wonder where He is in all our heartaches and those years of longing and watching everyone else find their special someone.

But we miss the fact that He is right there,forever trying to woo us to love Him. As Xin Yun put it, "He wants to be our Prince Charming. He is NEVER late and when the right time comes He will bring the right man to you." That should be a big relief to all girls out there. He brings the right man. You don't have to struggle about it, or go "man-hunting" as some have termed it. 

Just stay put and love the Lord with all you have in the meantime. 

Dear God, I prayed, all unafraid,
I do not need a handsome man
But let him be like You;

I do not need one big and tall
Nor need he be some genius
Or wealthy, Lord, at all;

But let his head be high, dear God,
And let his eye be clear,
His shoulders straight,

Whate’er his state
Whate’er his earthly sphere;
And let his face have character,
A ruggedness of soul,

And let his whole life show,
Dear God,
A singleness of goal;
That when he comes
(as he will come)
With quiet eyes aglow
I’ll understand that he’s the man
I prayed for long ago.


Ruth Bell, written in 1939 before she met Billy
published in Never Let it End: Poems of a Lifelong Love