Feeling pressured to get married

Dear Pastor,

I am 27 years old and my mother is getting worried because she would like to see me get married.

We have been talking about marriage very often these days. My father suggested that she should stop harassing me because he would love to see me happy and I have not yet introduced any man to him. The truth is, I am not in a hurry to get married. Many of my colleagues got married and have already broken up with their husbands. One of my girlfriends has now married three times. So I would like to know what is the best age to get married. I would not like to get married and then divorce.

Initial Withheld

Dear Writer,

Some counsellors suggest that when a young woman has reached the age of 30 and has met a man with whom she feels compatible, she can have a relationship and think of getting married.

But even at that age, you should not be eager to get married because the older one gets, it is more difficult to adjust. There are some advantages in getting married early and some habits you should not think of changing; so it is better to keep those habits for life. After they are married, some men never consider going back to school. They are not ambitious. So it really depends on your ambition and what you want out of life as you grow older. What I am trying to say is that there is no set rule about what age a person should get married. It is something you can reason out and see how well you would fare before you tie the knot.

Pastor