Dear Pastor,

I am a female in my 20s who has been with my boyfriend for 10 years. I have never been with anyone else. He is the first and only guy I have ever been with.

We have a child together. He has cheated so many times and I have never cheated, all because I am trying to live my life on the values I was taught while growing up.

The right thing

I want to get married and live the right life, so that my child is able to grow up and do the right thing too. I really love him, but I have made up my mind to leave him pretty soon.

He says he is not leaving me. He says he wants to marry me, but he is scared because his friends who are married are facing difficulties.

I really need your fatherly advice. This is killing me slowly, because I am not getting younger and I am not searching for anyone else, so I really want to know what you think. May God continue to bless you, and keep up the good work.

A.K., St Catherine, Jamaica

Dear A. K.,

Ten years is a very long time to be with a man. It is time for you to tell this man that if he is not going to marry you, you are going to leave him because you are tired of the life you are living. You are in your 20s, but the relationship has been going on for a long time, so this man needs to stop looking at the marriages that have failed and look at those that have succeeded. So, if he truly loves you, he should marry you as soon as possible. If he tells you again that he is not ready, leave him. You don't want to stay in a relationship unmarried until arthritis takes over your entire body and you have to walk with a stick or move around in a wheelchair.

Pastor