When it comes to dating, I can be something of a fearful cynic. I feel I must cushion my heart in case I will be greatly disappointed. Somehow I have expected that it is very likely that however much I like a man at the outset, it may very well turn out to be a show--that somehow, underneath, I will find thin roots. Perhaps it is influenced by the man-shaming preached from some pulpits, or from that horrible cultural idea that dehumanizes men by saying they only ever want "one thing". I can only imagine the heavy load this places upon men. It surely places a different kind of a load upon single women.

Despite all of this, there is a part of me that sustains hope. Surely every man is just as much a sinner as I am. But surely, too, there is a man oozing with the fruit of grace. Surely there are men who bear some fruit that dangles within eye-sight, but bear a greater number hidden beneath. Men who believe Jesus when he said the Father who sees what is done in secret will reward them. Men who bear the girth of their character like an iceberg. They may not feel they have anything to show, but for those allowed to enter in, they find the fingerprints of Christ covered all over the place. 

I'm praying for an "iceberg man". But then, I also am praying to be an "iceberg woman". 

By God's grace, may it be so.