Dear Pastor,

My problem is that I am in love with a woman who has two children with two different men and she wants to get baptised. She is five years older than I am. And since she is going to church, she stopped having sex with me. I used to go there every evening and eat before I go to my house. Now, she told me that I can't come there so often. I am still helping her pay the rent and feeding her, because the children's fathers are not helping her much. She wants us to get married, but I am not ready for that.

My father didn't get married until he was 65. And he told me that whenever a woman is anxious to get married, that is the wrong woman to marry. When I met this woman, I had a girlfriend, but she was too 'flighty flighty' and up and down. So I stopped talking to her and I went into the friendship with this big woman. Now, I don't know what to do because I don't want to stop her from getting baptised. I am 24 years old. I am not ready to get married or to join the church because I don't want to turn back.

R.E., Clarendon

Dear R.E.,

I am sure this woman is grateful for the support you are giving her, but she has to think about her soul. And if you are not prepared to marry her, you should end the relationship and move on.

At 24 years old, you are not too young to get married, but no one should force you to do so.

Pastor