Soul mate?

The young adults group at my church has an online discussion forum via google groups and someone posed this question:

What are your thoughts on the belief that everyone has a soul mate?

Single Christians are told to pray for the “bone of our bone, and the flesh of our flesh.” Some will even say, pray that the rib will be directed to the rib cage it belongs. 

In that case, the rib symbolizes woman, as God formed her out of Adam’s rib. The rib cage symbolizes man, as God put Adam to sleep and removed a rib from his rib cage.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” Genesis 2: 20-23

I have also heard the statement that “when God created you, He created your mate.” 

The aforementioned prayer points and sayings could lend credence to the belief that there is one specific person created specifically for you. Yet, God gives us the ability to choose. 

Here were some notable quotes I pulled from the discussion:

“Ask God to guide you along the process of finding your soul mate. He won't drop him/her into your lap neither can you choose by your own wisdom.” – Tosan O.

“Yes! You chose your "soul mate," hopefully you asked God's guidance in making the decision, otherwise your prayer shall change to asking for grace and mercy!” – Tosan O.

The following Sunday, the Pastor’s wife, Pastor Funmi, summed up the answer for inquiring minds:

There is no such thing as a soul mate. There is not one person specifically designed for you. The only person made for someone was Eve (made for Adam). Everyone else has a choice. But the main thing is to have a value system. Marry a Christian not a church goer.

Value System? Hmmm. What qualities do people value, I wondered.

So, I posed this question to my single Christian friends, both male and female:

What do you desire in a spouse?

The following two posts contain qualities of what males and females value when looking (or choosing rather).