Singing in the Wait // Part Three

I don't think anyone ever feels brave. At least I don't. But through praying and reading lots of blogs {particularly this one by Aliza who is doing her #write31days series on choosing to be brave}, I've discovered that brave is a choice. Some times I feel like so many things are out of my control like my feelings, my emotions, my struggles, but God is telling me to make that choice, and He'll step in to do the rest. I choose brave. I choose joy. I choose love. These things are not feelings. They are a choice. I trust that once I make the choice, God will do His part.

Moriah Peters is one of my favorite artists, and her music just lifts me up and makes me want to choose brave. Take a listen to this amazing song. I think it will make you wanna be brave too. 

No one ever told me
This would be easy
But I never knew
That it could be this hard
Oh the worry the worry the worry
Is weighing on me
Could you help me break down
All these question marks
And make me ...

I know I know I'm no superwoman
But impossible is possible with You
So no, no, no more running, no more hiding
Strike the fire so I'll be fearless too
And make me ...

None go with me
Still I'll follow
Through the joy
And through the sorrow
Cross before me
World behind me
There's no turning back

Brave  //  I'll fight like a soldier
Brave  //  Rise like a warrior
Brave  //  Won't stop till the final day
Brave  //  I want to be stronger
Brave  //  Gonna be bolder
Brave  //  Look up and I see the way
You make me brave

 

I want to be BRAVE. I'm gonna choose brave. These last two weeks of this challenge are going to be hard. Have I mentioned yet that I am running a half-marathon on October 31? These next two weeks could potentially be the hardest of the entire write31days challenge. But I choose to be brave.

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{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}

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DaySpring.com is celebrating all of the amazing Write 31 Days readers who are supporting nearly 2,000 writers this October! To enter to win a $500 DaySpring shopping spree, just click on this link & follow the giveaway widget instructions. Good luck, and thanks for reading!

Weekend Encouragement // Part Three

Let's wait together.

I don't know about y'all, but I want to take some steps to make the most of this time and learn how to use this time to grow closer to God. I stumbled upon this study, and I am ordering it. Right now.

I'm all about being proactive and learning from others who have learned from their waiting places.

Let's redeem this waiting place together. Check out this awesome Bible study. I'd love to do it together with anyone out there {even just through the internet/technology} who is interested. Let me know.

From Holly Holt's website:

Most of us are all too familiar with the word "wait."

"Wait your turn" and "you just have to wait" are phrases we've heard since we were young. We learn waiting is a part of life, and we begin to accept it. Well, sort of... As we grow older, the seasons of waiting we face tend to get bigger and bigger with a myriad of additional challenges thrown into the mix.

Our lives often weave seamlessly in and out of seasons of waiting. Some seasons are simply annoying, while others are unbelievably stressful and painful. Some are so all consuming that they take our minds hostage allowing us to think of nothing else. We've all been there.

It might be hard to believe that there is a purpose to some of the most difficult, frustrating, and seemingly stagnant times in our lives, but there is.

Together in this study, we will dive deep into Scripture to learn how to live fully alive during seasons of waiting and hardship.

In The Wait is for: 
*Women of all ages who want to build a strong relationship with the Lord 
*Those who find themselves worried, anxious, or overwhelmed by their current season 
*Anyone who dreams of claiming victory and living a joy-filled life

I don't know about y'all. But I'm there. I'm in a place where I want to see a change. I desperately want to change this waiting place into a season of huge growth and joy and love and peace. I want my life to have Jesus written all over it. No matter what that takes.

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{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}

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DaySpring.com is celebrating all of the amazing Write 31 Days readers who are supporting nearly 2,000 writers this October! To enter to win a $500 DaySpring shopping spree, just click on this link & follow the giveaway widget instructions. Good luck, and thanks for reading!

What New Orleans Traffic Taught Me About Waiting

Fridays make me think about traffic. I hate traffic. so much.

Growing up in small town Mississippi, my idea of traffic was having to stop at all 6 red lights between my house and church. Rarely {if ever} did I have to worry about other cars. Traffic just wasn't a thing. Even when my parents moved to North Mississippi right outside of Memphis, I still didn't experience real traffic.

But let me tell you. New Orleans {NOLA} knocks the ball out of the park when it comes to traffic. Lord have mercy. It's the worst. Truly I have never experienced such anxiety than I have sitting in traffic down here.

To clarify, it's not bad everywhere, but the problem is that I work on the West Bank and live on the East Bank. Because of the location of my apartment on the EB and my school on the WB, the route I have to take is the Crescent City Connection Bridge. On the way to work is fine, but on the way home is quite possibly the worst traffic on planet earth {okay, not really because I saw a video from a traffic jam in Beijing and let's be real I'm also being somewhat dramatic}. But it is bad. I work only about 4 to 5 miles from my school, but it can take me over an hour {like yesterday} to get home.

I hate the stopping and going. I hate the turtle poking. Oh the anxiety and stress that builds inside of me. Some days are worse than others. Some days it doesn't bother me at all, and some days I feel like I am going to start ripping my hair out. It feels so nonsensical to just sit there in that traffic. There's no obvious reason other than too many cars trying to all go the same way obviously. I feel like I am wasting precious and valuable time of my life just sitting there. I'm stuck. There's nowhere to move. There's nowhere to go. I'm just stuck.

Sound familiar?

Sounds a little like all my pity parties in this waiting place. Frustration. Irritation. Confusion. Anxiety. Stress. Wasting valuable time. etc.

Just this year {a year after enduring that craziness}, I discovered an alternate route. It is actually probably a little longer on the mileage side, but the difference is unbelievable. It can literally lake me the same amount of time if not shorter to go the longer distance on the Huey P. Long Bridge. There's no stop and go. It's just slow and steady. There is zero anxiety.

Such a simple choice. Taking the Huey P versus the Crescent City Connection. Knowing myself well enough to know that this one little decision can spare me of so much anxiety and stress.

So what on earth does this have to do with redeeming my waiting place? Oh it has every thing to do with redeeming my waiting place.

I have no control over how long I'm gonna have to wait for an answer for whether or not I will ever marry, but regardless, this is still my journey to walk. This is still my waiting place. Because I choose to wait on God, there's no getting out at this point unless He so chooses that for me. Just like I have to drive home one way or the other every day. I have to make that drive, but it is up to me which route I take.

There comes a point where I have to make some conscious decisions to spare myself any unnecessary or extra anxiety/stress. So I had to stop reading Christian romance novels. So maybe I should stop watching TLC's Say Yes to the Dress. I know the things that can automatically set off my heart into no-man's land. I know what will cause my mind to have anxious thoughts.

I want to make the most of every season of my life. I would rather spend this waiting time anxiety-less and stress-less. I only have these days and this season once. God is using even this. It's my choice how I spend my time in this waiting place.
 

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{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}

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DaySpring.com is celebrating all of the amazing Write 31 Days readers who are supporting nearly 2,000 writers this October! To enter to win a $500 DaySpring shopping spree, just click on this link & follow the giveaway widget instructions. Good luck, and thanks for reading!

Do {the WAIT} Big + GIVEAWAY

We're halfway there. And here I am again. Slacking. I need one more day of grace. We are gonna talk about this waiting place stuff, but I'm feeling a different  and short spin at this late hour.

Real life is this // you can plan all the live long day, but in the end, God's plan prevails. I had some big plans this week. Maybe big isn't the right word, but ultimately, I saw this week going a certain way. 

Ha.

 It went nothing like I expected it too. At this point, I think my body has decided that sleep is never going to come, so it might as well just do without. 

This week // work has been crazy. life has been crazy. everything has been crazy. But strangely I would put it in the good kind of crazy category. 

Satan has been intently attacking my calling recently which has really had me in a funk. But something has shifted this week. I feel reassured. I feel stronger. I feel like God is drawing me in deeper to Himself. I feel overwhelming peace.

This waiting place stuff doesn't seem so bad. Ironically, it's feeling kind of fun right now. This month of October in year 2015 is going to be one for the books. It is going to be one that I look back on 20 years from now and think // that is when it all changed. And I'm a-okay with that. Some good change is necessary in this waiting place. 

The more fun, adventurous, spontaneous, exciting, uncharacteristic things I can find to do, the better. Because I am unattached and free to do so many things that I never dreamed I could do. I don't want to waste a single day. I think that's where God is leading me these last two weeks {after we talk about Rachel as promised of course}. God is showing me what it means to wait well. 

Bottom line // it's all about Jesus. My life is all about Jesus. This blog is all about Jesus. 

Let's see where Jesus takes us second half of this journey.  

Also ... SURPRISE ... keep reading. 

     
 

DaySpring.com is celebrating all of the amazing Write 31 Days readers who are supporting nearly 2,000 writers this October! To enter to win a $500 DaySpring shopping spree, just click on this link & follow the giveaway widget instructions. Good luck, and thanks for reading!
 

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{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}

All About That Grace

I need some grace today. I actually rarely give myself grace.

Not in this waiting process. Not in this life. period.

I hold myself to a really high bar of perfection, and when I fail, I give myself anything but grace.

I give myself a hard time. I give myself shame. I give myself lectures. I give myself extra pressure.

I don't know how to give myself grace. I'm usually pretty good at giving grace to others, but I don't allow any for myself.

This isn't the blog post I had planned for today. I had planned to follow up the story of Sarah with Rachel, but instead God is giving me a little lesson in grace.

God doesn't expect us to be perfect. He doesn't expect us to know how to figure this life out. That's what He is here for. That's what He wants for us. To rely on Him. To let Him take the lead. To just follow.

God knows our hearts, and He knows how much I want a husband and family. He is not blind to my heart's desires, but he also knows what's best for me despite my heart's desires.

I think there comes a point in the waiting that you have to give yourself some grace. Do what you gotta do. Grieve. Scream. Cry. Stomp your feet. Get it out. Pull the covers over your head. Just do it. That may or may not be what I'm doing at this exact moment since my life feels in complete disarray tonight. Waiting is hard, and no one is expecting you to do it perfectly. News flash, perfection isn't real. Only Jesus can do perfect.

I'm gonna redeem my waiting place today and give myself some grace. I hope you'll do the same today.

Because today, I'm all about that grace. {& yes, I'm singing that to the tune of a song I am not gonna name. you're welcome.}

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{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}

Sarah Waited

I got a whole lot of love for Sarah. This woman knows roller coaster emotions. She knows fear. She knows uncertainty. She knows control issues. But for real. She knows waiting.

It all began in Genesis 12. God said // I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great.

Then in chapter 13. God said // Lift up your eyes where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.

Chapter 15. Things get real between God and Abraham {I promise I'm getting to Sarah}. God is telling Abraham don't worry, but all Abraham could say was // what can you give me since I remain childless? You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.

And then God said nope. It will be your son from your body. Your offspring will exceed the stars in the heavens.

Now I'm no mathematician, but simple math says zero children does not equal limitless stars in the heavens or countless grains of sand on the shore. But God made a promise. A covenant. An unbreakable and binding contract with the holy and living God.

I love Sarah. Because she did the exact thing I would've probably done. She heard God's promise and decided that she could figure this out on her own. She could just give her maidservant to Abraham and voila there's your heir and countless offspring.

How many times do I do this exact thing? I think I can plan out my life better than God. Especially when I think my insufficiencies make it impossible for God to come through with His promise. But the facade of control that I have constructed spins wildly out of control just like Sarah's plan did with Hagar and Ishmael.

But the best part is coming. Genesis 17. God said // As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her name and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.

And chapter 18 takes the cake. God again told Abraham Sarah would have a son in a year's time, and Sarah laughed. Not only did she laugh but then she lied. I don't know about y'all, but this sounds scary like someone else I know {me raising my hand}.

Have you ever waited for something for ninety years? Yeah, me neither. But when we look at Sarah's life, we don't see a picture of perfection. We see sinfulness. We see human nature. We see us.

Even when we are faithless in the waiting, God is faithful. Even when we doubt, God is certain of His plans. Even when we fear, God gives security. Even when we struggle, God comes alongside of us. 

The redemption of the waiting place comes in the form of God's promises fulfilled. Despite the scheming, planning, controlling, laughing, and lying, God fulfilled His promise to Sarah and Abraham.

Chapter 21. Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised.

God is faithful to keep His promises. So what promises has He made to us?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. 

He will be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.  

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. 

The list goes on. God's promises to us are never-ending. We can count on those promises.

God has promised me so much, but one thing I can assure you He has not promised me and that is a husband. Nowhere in the Bible does God promise us any earthly thing, but He does promise us treasures in heaven for kingdom work done in this life.

I'm gonna stand on the promises God has made. And I'm gonna push on to do His work no matter the waiting place I am in.

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{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}

Levels of Waiting

In my opinion, there are two different levels of waiting.

Waiting for planned/set moments | level one. Waiting for unknown/wanted moments | level two.

Level one can be tough. I'm thinking along the lines of 9 months to the baby's entrance into the world. Engagement to wedding day. Childhood to graduation day. Now until I get back on a plane to East Asia. First day of school to summer. These are things that will inevitably come. The waiting is a set amount of time. You can count down the days. This can be some crazy, hard waiting.

There's no downplaying that waiting. But ..

Level two has got some intensity to it that I don't even know if I can articulate on here. There's just something about waiting for something that you don't know will ever come. In level one, that baby is gonna come. summer will come. that graduation day will come. But there's not guarantee in level two. You just never know.

That's a whole different kind of waiting. I used to think level one waiting was hard. I really did. I thought graduation from high school would never come. Some days I think summer will never come back again. But there's something about watching those days ticking down on my Days Until app that encourages me. It gives me hope.

There's no Days Until app for a nonexistent husband {or boyfriend, for that matter}. for the end of infertility. for healing. for answered prayers. for the return of a prodigal child. for restoration. for freedom from addiction.

Funny enough. I think of God having a Days Until app for each of us for whatever has us in our waiting place. Because that's the thing. He knows. That's the assurance we have to hold on to. But the thing about His Days Until app is that it isn't a countdown to us getting exactly what we want. God's Days Until app is a countdown to our ultimate understanding whether that is this side of heaven or the other.

He is working all things for our good and His glory. His ways are not my ways, and my thoughts are not His thoughts. He knows each of our days and has them written in His book before one of them has come to be.

This is an opening to two days of looking at the lives of two women who did a whole lot of waiting and not particularly well which ironically sounds like someone else I know {insert emoji with woman raising her hand}. Sarah and Rachel waited. They know what I mean when I say level two waiting. I hope through looking at them a little closer, we can see the goodness of God especially in the waiting.
  

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{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}

Singing in the Wait // Part Two

Seriously. If you haven't gone and listened to Lauren Daigle's full album, I suggest you stop what you are doing right now and find it. It is worth the time and money. Guaranteed. You won't regret it.

Take the time to listen below. I think we've all been in a place where God hasn't moved a mountain we wanted Him to. He didn't part the waters we wanted to walk through. He hasn't given answers as we cried out to Him. But even so. We will trust in Him.

Trust in You
by Lauren Daigle

Letting go of every single dream
I lay each one down at Your feet
Every moment of my wandering
Never changes what You see

I’ve tried to win this war I confess
My hands are weary I need Your rest
Mighty Warrior, King of the fight
No matter what I face, You’re by my side

When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!

Truth is, You know what tomorrow brings
There’s not a day ahead You have not seen
So, in all things be my life and breath
I want what You want Lord and nothing less

When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!

You are my strength and comfort
You are my steady hand
You are my firm foundation; the rock on which I stand

Your ways are always higher
Your plans are always good
There’s not a place where I’ll go, You’ve not already stood

When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!

This song speaks so much truth into my heart and the exact words I need to hear when I'm struggling in this waiting place. 

I always have to trust God. Always. 

God is trustworthy even when He has us in a waiting place. 

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{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}

Weekend Encouragement // Part Two

Let's wait together.
Weekends encourage my heart like nothing else. I hope your heart can be encouraged as well.
In our wait, let's meditate on these words. on this psalm. on the words of God.

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation --
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life --
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

One thing I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord,
and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.
Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts
of joy;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Hear my voice when I call, O Lord;
be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
Your face, Lord, I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.
Though my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will receive me.

Teach me your way, O Lord;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.

I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord. 

{**Just as a little extra, that video up above is the song that my best friend, Kayla, and I wrote with/on Psalm 27. It's not great, but it's been a constant reminder for me while I'm learning to redeem this waiting place God has me in.**}

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{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}

When Faith isn't the Problem

Y'all, I got faith out the wazoo. Can I say that in the most humble way possible? Actually, I took a spiritual gifts inventory earlier this year, and it identified faith as one of my primary spiritual gifts. At first, I was a little surprised, but then I started to really think about it.

I've seen God heal my mother from {what all indicators pointed to as} cancer. Complete and total healing. Not once but twice. I've seen God provide money for trip after trip to serve him around the world. Money I didn't have and couldn't have come up with on my own. I've seen miracles with my own two eyes. I've got 10 years worth of prayer journals packed full of answered prayers.

I have no trouble believing in something I can't see. Honestly, it's never been hard for me to believe in God. I have always felt His presence in my life. I have always just trusted that He is there regardless of my feelings. Now hear me when I say, God has very evidently revealed Himself to me through His word, the church, and my everyday life, but what I'm saying is that I've never really been a doubter. I would consider myself an optimist/glass half-full kind of person.

When it comes to waiting, I do not doubt that God will give me an answer. I do not doubt that God's Word is true and that He has a good and perfect plan for my life. I think the big picture comes a little easier to me. It's the little puzzle pieces that I'm waiting on that get me all in a tizzy.

An excerpt from my actual ridiculously humorous unplanned life //

Some money that I was expecting this week didn't come through, and I had already planned to drive home to see my family this weekend. Without the money, I couldn't afford to put any gas in my car. Basically, it would be complicated to find a credit card to put it on. I felt God telling me to just keep driving. My control-freak/OCD/stubborn nature wanted to make a plan. But I just kept feeling this push to keep driving. I had faith that God would get me home on whatever amount of gas that was in my car. Did I feel like this was a hugely impossible thing? Yes. But I also know that what is impossible for man is possible with God.

I know I sound crazy. Yall. I know I am crazy. I am a very self-aware individual. I was driving on E with a healthy amount of faith and fear. This is not like me. I pride myself on always being in control, and I can tell you this was not my ideal situation. Seriously on E.

God and I were having a full-on moment in my car at this point. Half desperation/half tears. I told God that I could run out of gas right there/right then, and I'd still have faith. I wasn't stopping that car. I told him He was gonna have to stop that car, because I wasn't gonna be the girl with no faith. I told him I give up. I give up this facade of control. I told him that regardless of the outcome, I'd still have faith.

And yall. Just as I breathed those words. Just as I said that I give up control, my car started slowing down. I feel my craziness oozing off this page. I know. Then as I sat on the side of the road, I had to make the worst call of all. To my mom. To admit defeat. To admit I don't have anything under control. This was a low point.

But then I restarted my car and made it the next mile to a gas station. I made it.

Let's debrief. This was not the super profound Old Testament "the oil never ran out" moment that I was hoping for. This was a low moment for me, but I realized that I have to keep the faith. I have to let my faith in God carry me through this waiting. Waiting isn't easy for anyone, but I realized in this moment that a lack of faith isn't my problem. My need for control is my problem.

God sure taught me a good lesson last night regardless of how hard it was for me to learn. I gotta cling to faith during this season of waiting. Cling to your faith. Faith will carry us in this waiting place.

Whew. When God sets out to redeem your waiting place, get ready, because He will do just that. Tonight I'm just praying for the faith to take the next step. Just faith for the next step. Whether I can see it or not. I'm gonna use this gift of faith, and take the next step.

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{This blog post is a part of a series called Redeeming the Waiting Place for the Write31Days challenge to write every day in October. You can find links to all posts in my series here. If you're interested, the Write31Days challenge is being taken by hundreds and hundreds of other wonderful bloggers which you can read more of right here. My personal favorite is browsing all the inspirational and Godly women who are blogging under the Inspiration & Faith tab which you can check out as well right here.}