The Waiting Game

WAIT:  verb (used without object)

1. to remain inactive or in a state of repose, until something expected happens

2. to remain neglected for a time

3. to look forward to eagerly

When I hear the word WAIT, the first thing I thing I think is…. “story of my life.”  Then I quickly survey my life and realize there are certain, very important, things where I didn’t have to WAIT too long. Like meeting and falling in love with my wonderful husband in the 8th grade.  But in every instance…. the WAITing ones and the not…. I can see God’s provision in my life.  There are still some things that I don’t understand, but I know in time God will show me a huge life lesson…. case in point: the year 2010.

The above definitions for the word WAIT give me mixed emotions: 1. sad, 2. depressed, and 3. hopeful.  When WAITing on anything, for just a short time or for years, it seems, maybe, as if God has forgotten you… He’s not hearing the cries of my heart, people… Or maybe the situation gets the best of you and you just quit praying all together.  That’s where I get when the WAITing game seems like too much to bear, where I feel totally “neglected for a time” and ready to sleep/eat my worries away.  But then sweet little definition #3 comes…. and I can continue to “look forward to eagerly” the blessings that God is going to give me soon.  And, look at all the beautiful blessings that are right in front of my face.

WAITing on God is something that is commanded:

“But you much return to your God, Maintain love and justice, and WAIT for your God always”  Hosea 12:6

“WAIT for the Lord, Be strong and take heart and WAIT for the Lord” Psalm 27:14

“Be still before the Lord and WAIT patiently for Him” Psalm 37:7

“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you.  Therefore He will rise up to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who WAIT for Him!”  Isaiah 30:18

We WAIT for His providence, His salvation, and His blessings….. Especially these days, where we are privileged to live in an instant and selfish United States.  But there are some benefits to WAITing on God.  It leads to expectancy… It leads to hope… It leads to trust… And it leads to patience.

“In the morning, Lord, You hear my voice.  In the morning I lay my requests before You and WAIT expectantly.”  Psalm 5:3

“We WAIT in hope for the Lord.  He is our help and our shield”  Psalm 33:20

“I will WAIT for the Lord… I will put my trust in Him”  Isaiah 8:17

“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we WAIT for it patiently”  Romans 8:25

And, we can always know that we are not alone.  And that things can always get worse or be worse.  Everyone is WAITing on something.  What I do while I WAIT is what’s important.  I can’t let myself grow bitter and more selfish… only better and more reliant on The One who’s in charge. 

Thinking through the Bible… there are soooo many people that WAITed years for God’s promises to be fulfilled:  Abraham & Sarah, Zechariah & Elizabeth, Joseph, Daniel, David, Ruth, Esther, Moses, Jacob, Paul, and even Jesus Himself.  Everything happens in God’s timing and who am I to ask why something isn’t happening right when I want it.

As I am turning 30 in a few short weeks, I am grateful for the knowledge I have on this subject…. way more than the average lady my age, I know that.  It has made me into the woman I am today.  Though it has been a hard lesson to learn, it has helped me to be more grounded and more grateful.  Life is too short to worry about whatever I am WAITing on.  I have learned that it is so comforting and so beautiful to fully rely and trust God for the desires of my heart.  He knows my heart and I pray everyday that it would be pure and steadfast.  That’s the bottom line.  That’s the end of my WAITing game. 

(Some of this was taken from BibleGateway.com.  A great resource that’s always at your fingertips)

Nursery! Upgrading Cheap Shelves

Nate is so handy.  He can basically build anything.  I am positive that he could build an entire house all by himself.  Maybe someday we will do that…. probably not…. but maybe.

In the mean time we enjoy fixing up our house.  In Rogers we basically re-did the whole thing, as much as we could afford.  Now, since moving and buying a newer house, we only have to change the things we want to.  We still have a few projects lined up (gutters, pergola, outside paint…) but since it has been so hot outside we have focused our attention on the nursery.

First project for the nursery:  Shelves!

We started out with cheap $20 shelves from target.

Next, we added some trim pieces around each side.

Then we caulked all the nail holes, did a little sanding, and painted everything.

After adding a little bead board to the back, instead of the cheap cardboard, they look pretty snazzy!

 

They look great and I am excited to cover them with cute decorations for our baby girl!

 

To upgrade some shelves of your own, here are the supplies we used for each set of shelves:

• 1 cheap laminate 5 shelving unit
• 10 – 1” x 2” x 8’ pint boards
• 1 – 12’ base molding (3 1/4 x 1/2)
• 1 sheet of bead board
• Nails
• Wood glue
• Spackle
• Sand paper
• Primer/Paint

 

I’m Telling This Story For a Few Reasons…

Last weekend our new Women’s Ministry at church had our kick off event… Mugs & Muffins.  It was so great, and God blessed all of our efforts and answered prayers!  Our guest speaker, Glenette Russell, challenged us all to get involved and open our eyes to where we need to serve in this new ministry.  When she had finished I gave a short testimony to kind of…. encourage all the ladies to not waste their lives.  I didn’t get to say all of the following, but this is what I had planned…

I am going to close with a story.  This is the story of great friendship… the kind that lasts a lifetime.  Let me start by saying I’m not telling you all this to make you sad or depressed or anything… I’m telling you all this story to show that God is sovereign.  He is in control.  He still works miracles, and most importantly to remind all of us to not waste any of the time we have left on this earth.

Nate and I got married right after he graduated from college, here at OBU.  I still had three years left (yes, Nate is three years older than me) so when we moved to Arkansas, I went to the U of A.  When you are married and in college for a degree, and not to party you quickly find others that are like you.  I had one great friend in college, Courtney.  Courtney and I met in my first class in business school.  After that semester we coordinated our schedules and took every possible class together.  She was full of life and always stretched me to get out of my perfectionist ways.  Like whenever I would doodle all through class, Courtney would bump my hand and make me mess up, or just draw a big line across the page… If you know me, you know that is a big deal.  As I look back at that time I treasure those memories because Courtney taught me not to take things so seriously.  She taught me how to slow down and see the big picture.  After we graduated from college in May 2008 we make plans to go to dinner so our husbands could finally meet.  Nate and I just had to go to one youth camp first.  It was Wednesday night of camp when Courtney’s dad called me with the news that she had died.  That was June 18, 2008.  So instead of going to dinner together, I went to her funeral.

Kristin and I got to know each other in middle school and by the time we were eighth graders we had a bond that couldn’t be broken.  Do you notice how your friends are a lot like you?  Well, Kristin and I were that way… We had the same morals, the same mind set, and the same dreams.  I don’t think about middle school or high school or my wedding without thinking of Kristin.  In middle school we would draw pictures of our futures with our husbands.  Then in high school we would go on all kinds of choir trips and she would make me tapes of her singing for my birthdays.  She lit up the room with her laughter.  She was a red head that could always make anyone smile.  On July 29, a few weeks ago, while Nate and I were in Wal-Mart of all places, Nate got a call.  It was someone close to her family giving me the news that she had died while on vacation with her family in Hawaii.

You are probably wondering… how did Courtney and Kristin die?  Well, on motorcycles…. but that isn’t important.  What is important is why I felt like I needed to share this story.  I am 25 years old and have lost two of my best friends.  I spent a lot of time in prayer after these two deaths, and especially after Kristin died a few weeks ago just trying to go see a sunset with her husband.  I asked God why?  I started to throw a pitty party for myself asking Him, If this normal… to have two good friends die?  Couldn’t Kristin and JD just waited one more minute to leave their hotel room… then that truck wouldn’t have hit them.  Couldn’t Courtney have waited til her husband got home to go for a ride?  There were endless questions.  But last Thursday after Kristin’s celebration of life ceremony, I felt at peace, which is why I am able to stand here and talk about it right now.  God worked a miracle of peace in my heart and in Courtney’s family back in 2008.  And God worked a miracle in my heart and in Kristin’s family just a few weeks ago.  I feel that it is my job to keep Courtney’s and Kristin’s story alive.

The best thing about both of my friends… they were dedicated, authentic, faithful followers of Christ and I know where they are right now.  Courtney served in her church every time someone came to know the Lord.  She was there counseling with them and standing there with a towel when they got baptized.  Kristin was an extremely gifted singer and had been leading worship in her churches since high school.  Their lives were not wasted, and today I feel like I’m following God’s prompting, getting way out of my comfort zone, and telling this story for a few simple reasons….

Sure, so my friends’ memories will live on, but more than that….. So we won’t take our fragile, temporary lived for granted…. So each one of us can look forward to Heaven and carry that hope around with us every day…. So we, as women, will not take for granted the friendships we have or the ones we need to make… So we can get past ourselves and get our focus on what really matters, and that is the Lord, Jesus Christ….. And mostly, so we can search ourselves and see what God is call us to do.

What is God calling you to do in your own personal relationship with Him?  In your family?  In your church?  And, if you are a part of FBCY, in this new women’s ministry?

 

For more information on Ladies Of Love Women’s Ministry, click HERE

All To Us

I was introduced to this song last Sunday and the words have been in my heart ever since.  Music has a way of moving us sometimes, and I feel like these words are truly the cry of my heart right now.  This is my prayer and my hope for myself and our church.

All To Us by Chris Tomlin

Precious cornerstone, sure foundation

You are faithful to the end

We are waiting on You, Jesus

We believe You're all to us

Let the glory of Your name be the passion of the Church

Let the righteousness of God be a holy flame that burns

Let the saving love of Christ be the measure of our lives

We believe You're all to us

Only Son of God sent from Heaven

Hope and mercy at the cross

You are everything, You're the Promise

Jesus, You are all to us

Let the glory of Your name be the passion of the Church

Let the righteousness of God be a holy flame that burns

Let the saving love of Christ be the measure of our lives

We believe You're all to us

When this passing world is over

We will see You face to face

And forever we will worship

Jesus, You are all to us

You're all to us

You're all to us

You're all to us

A Modern Girls' Guide to Bible Study...

Along with some friends, I have been making my way through the first two weeks of this book. It has been a great little refresher so far and I am greatly looking forward to the next four weeks. It has helped me get back to real Bible study.... and have some good laughs with some wonderful girls (Hi Melissa)!

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This last year was a rough (and by rough I mean simply reading and not thinking a thing about anything... might as well have been nonexistent) one for my own personal Bible study. I've shared before that I let my own circumstances and physical surroundings totally get me depressed and out of whack. I am so glad that we serve a God of that doesn't hold this last year against me and that He is full of mercy and love.

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This book is teaching us to go through the Bible and really examine the scriptures. The other day I was reading 1 Cor. 13 over and over asking God to show me something new. I thought I understood these verse pretty well... It was read at my wedding and stuff.

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"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

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This is what I've got: God wants us to go beyond the usual "God is love" stuff and understand that God wants us to love Him with this perfect love.... the love He has for us. Without that love we are nothing.

Which makes me think about when everything is stripped away... and I mean everything... when we are standing in front of God one day will I have that real love to show him. We think we know what love is here on earth, but I have a feeling we really have no idea. Even though it is scary to think about who we are in the core.... without family, husbands, children, friends, a job, a home, hobbies, life as we know it, church and on and on.... I know it is something we all need to do.

Is this crazy?

Memorable Moment #14: Our Five Year Anniversary Trip to The Bahamas

This was our second trip as just the two of us. The first was our honeymoon to Disney World. We have had the great privilege to go on a lot of trips, but we always have 20-60 teenagers with us. ha

I decided that no matter how broke we are we should take a trip every five years. Man, was it worth it!

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Five Year Anniversary trip to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas

September 2-6, 2010

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Us at 5:30am. Gotta go catch our plane!

. Nate with the tiny plane we flew in from Miami to Freeport .

We somehow knew the whole trip that our one bag wouldn't make it. Kinda ruined our first day, but we sat on the beach anyway

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Nate did a lot of reading

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I could stare at this view all day every day. It was gorgeous!

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Nate was so sweet to take so many pictures with me. We took a tripod and I was snapping away the whole week.

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My two favorites

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We had like 100 strawberry slushes. They were so great whenever we were so hot

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We took a tour of the island one day and went to The Garden of the Groves.

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. Just hangin out on the beach

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. The best thing about the trip was just uninterupted time alone with each other.... away from everything... We have been physically, mentally, and emotionally exauhsted since our move. Everyday stepping into the mission house, surrounded by boxes, thinking about the life we used to have took its toll on us.

This trip was definitely needed and we loved it! What has been happening since we got back has been even more exciting!

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Can't wait till our 10 year trip!

A Heart That Endures

I once heard a man say that if he could ask for one thing from God it would be...... A HEART THAT ENDURES. wow

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

-Phil. 4:2-8

He used these verses to explain to us what exactly this kind of heart looks like.... *Be happy in knowing the Lord. We don't deserve his love.

*Gentleness = Being happy with less than you deserve.

*Don't worry. "Worry is the interest on a debt that has already been paid."

*Worry is the complete opposite of prayer.

*Be thankful..... There is a lot to be thankful for

*God's greatest gift = peace

*Think positive thoughts

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This is an awesome goal. The pastor that spoke these words was well into his fifties, and had just resigned from his church because they were unable to pay him. He was going through some hard times and stood infront of our whole church and gave us a message of peace, hope, and love. I greatly admire his words, and pray that I can have a heart that endures.

Nate and I have both learned a lot about ourselves in the last seven months. Everyday that our house doesn't sell makes my attitude worse. I have learned that I am a lazy, selfish person.... great huh? I feel like I am trapped in someone elses body... literally. The things that I used to love to do.... I just don't. I am letting my surroundings determine my mood.

But don't worry.... I know myself and somehow I will slowly get back to that girl.

We have found great friends here and I am able to get everything off my chest whenever I want. Nate and I are about to go insane and do some insanity workouts, which will help me a lot! We are about to start summer activities, which I always look forward to.... Can't wait to get to know our students better. And, I just booked our anniversary trip to the Bahamas! Things are looking up!

From today on I will choose to rejoice in the Lord! I will be happy with what we have. God has totally provided for us during our transition from Rogers to Yukon. There were times when I had it written on paper how we weren't going to have money left for food after we paid our bills in Rogers and in Yukon.... And somehow we still had money in the bank. Do you believe God still does miracles??? I certainly do!

I will choose to pray when I want to worry. And I will choose to be thankful instead of grumpy. I will think happy thoughts and not let myself get down. I will pray for one of God's greatest gifts... peace.

This should be a wonderful start to a week of self reflection, restoration, and renewal. I will be by myself so this could get interesting. Nate is going to church camp without me for the first time. The depressed Whitney would cry all day everyday and lay on the couch when she gets off work, but today.... the new me will choose not to be like that. Mind over matter. Here goes nothing....

God give me a heart that endures