I have this friend, see. He thinks there is one person out there for him to marry, and that his time dating is just trying to figure out if she is "the one."

A lot of people believe the exact same thing my friend believes--that God has one person picked out for them to marry.

I wonder why they believe that. Maybe it's because they think God maps out every situation in life and that we have no choice in anything we do. Or maybe (and this is what I lean towards believing) it's because they think it's more romantic to think there's just one person out there for them.

You know ladies, one day you'll be at Starbucks when you slip on a "coincidentally" unlabeled wet floor, only to be saved from impending injury by a dashing debonair. Your eyes lock, some cheesy music plays, your hair flows in slow motion, and you can focus on nothing but his perfectly chiseled (and tan--a bonus!) face.

You get married two weeks later, have 2 kids, lots of money, and one day save the world from every problem it's ever had. Blah blah blah.

It's all so romantic to have one person hand-picked just for you, isn't it?

Well, it might be romantic, but I don't think it's as romantic as choosing who to marry.

The reason I say that is because if there is one person picked out for you, then it requires very little want-to on your part. You don't really have to be committed to the person out of desire. You're just sort of there because that's the way it's supposed to be. It's not that you don't "love" that person, but it sure does make it a lot easier to do so since you know it's "God's will."

I think it's much more romantic to be in a relationship knowing you could very well have chosen to be with someone else.

I've told my wife this before, and she's told me before: we could be married to someone else and still be happy, still be serving God, still be in His will. Not that divorce is an option or that we could walk out on the marriage and be cool with it. Rather, that before we got married, we understood that we had options.

To me, it's much more romantic to wake up every day and tell my wife, "Babe, I realize there were other women out there, but I don't really care about them. I want you more than anyone else. I choose you."