Waiting for Rain in this Drought

Waiting is hard. This goes without saying. Waiting is not for the faint of heart. Waiting does not have a reputation of being fun. It actually has a reputation for quite the opposite. 

Remember how I said I know what can set off all kinds of negative emotions, feelings, and thoughts about singleness/waiting? Well, romantic comedies {also known as chick flicks} are high on that list of things I have had to step back from and only watch in moderation. Those things can for sure put you in a dark place if you're not careful. I know because I've been there.

But I'm gonna make a small exception today to use one of my all-time favorite movie quotes that talks about waiting. Hillary Duff hit the nail on the head with this one. 

via

It's shameful to even admit on here how many times I've seen this movie. Honestly, I probably stink at this waiting so much because of all the romantic comedies and Christian romance fiction that I bombarded my brain with from age 13 to 22. Oops. If only I knew then what I know now. I was so idealistic, and my views on marriage were that God owed me something. That it was my right to be married. I had impossible standards that no real guy could ever meet.

That's neither here nor there. Moving on. I had this exact thought this summer when I was dealing with a particular situation in my life. I was waiting for something to happen. Waiting for a move to be made. I felt every bit of that useless and disappointing part. It felt hopeless. Waiting on Prince Charming {whom, to be clear, I no longer believe in, but for illustration purposes, let's just go with it} legitimately feels like waiting on rain in a drought.

I've never experienced a drought. I'm not a huge fan of rain, so I don't think I would hate a mini-drought. Minus all the bad things that come with that. But I do know for those who have experienced drought, it is not to be taken lightly. Waiting for rain in the midst of such difficult circumstances would seem almost unbearable to me.

Setting aside that real drought now, waiting for God to give an answer for something so incredibly important in my life feels that heavy. Just this weighty anticipation of something I so deeply long for. But the whole purpose of this blog series is me learning that it doesn't have to be useless and disappointing. It is most definitely my choice whether or not this waiting place is useless and disappointing versus useful and joyful.

If your waiting place feels like a drought, there's no relationship, child, answer, no anything that can bring rain to your drought. Only Jesus can do that.

So all I'm saying is ...

Jesus, bring the rain.

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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.}

Just Reach Out

Mark 5:21-42. You know, that Bible story that I never heard as a little girl about the woman in the crowd who was sick. To be more specific, that story about the woman who was bleeding. For 12 years, my friends. {Thank you, Beth Moore, for being the first person I ever heard preach this passage truthfully.}

For 12 years, this woman had lived in what was probably a mixture of shame, pain, fear, confusion, frustration, and dashed hopes.

Her waiting place was healing. Do you think she was jumping for joy and bursting with smiles every day of those 12 years? I would guess there were moments when she wanted to do anything but that. I do plan to take a lot of liberties with this story, but my disclaimer is that despite the lack of details we have in this story, I believe God has laid on my heart a parallel for me in this waiting place I am in. I pray you can give me a little writing grace here.

So let's look a little closer at this woman's story which was so important that God decided to put it in His Holy Word.

Shame. I'm no Bible scholar or historian, but from what I've learned about Bible times is that if you had a sickness or ailment, the majority of people automatically assumed it was sin in your life or family that was causing it. What shame this woman must have experienced from 12 years of feeling that judgement. To the point that I feel like she probably hid herself away from people.

Have you ever experienced shame in your waiting? Maybe I don't have enough faith. Maybe I haven't done enough good things. Maybe it's sin in my life. Maybe I deserve this. Maybe some of those things are true, but I don't believe that is how God works. He gives mercy and grace without end. That's not to say there aren't consequences for our sins and life choices, but God did not create us to live in bondage. He created us to be set free through the blood of Jesus.

Fear. I bet she had some fear. Fear that God would never heal her. Fear that she would suffer from this bleeding for 12 more years. Fear that all she would ever know would be this waiting place.

Have you ever experienced fear in your waiting? Maybe God will keep me in this waiting forever. Maybe God has forgotten me. Maybe I am all alone. None of that is true. God knows every hair on our head. Do you think He could forget the name of His precious daughter much the less the heart of the sweet child of His of whom He knows the number of hairs on her head?

Confusion. I think confusion would have been a daily struggle for her. Can you imagine her confusion over God not healing her? Can you imagine her confusion over 12 long years of waiting? Confusion and just not understanding what God is doing.

Have you ever experienced confusion in your waiting? Why is this happening? When will this end? What did I do to deserve this? What on earth is God doing in my life? But that's a downward spiral of lies. God knows all and sees all. I'm gonna wear this verse out, but His ways and thoughts are so much higher than my ways and my thoughts. He is working things for the greater glory. 

Pain. Frustration. Hopelessness. Sadness.

Have you ever experienced those feelings in your waiting?

Yeah? Me too.

But here's the catch. The woman. She reached out. Past the shame. Past the fear. Past the pain. Past the confusion. Past the frustration. She reached out to touch Jesus. Laying all those feelings aside, she knew she had to touch Him.

We are not bound in those things. We have been set free. I have to claim that freedom here and now. There's no point in putting it off until the wait is over. I want to take hold of the freedom that Jesus has claimed for me today. Smack dab in the middle of my waiting place.

In my waiting, I am gonna take the risk. I am gonna risk exposing my shame, pain, fear, confusion, frustration. I am gonna reach out and touch Jesus. I know I can find healing there. Just reach out.

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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.}

Waitng Well

What if this were my last year being single? What if the waiting will be over in one year? **For the record, I do not believe this is the case.**

{These are BIG ifs, but if I lived as if my waiting had a purpose, how different might things be?}

It wasn't until recently that I really thought through the implications of this statement. I don't know the future. I don't know what will happen tomorrow much less if I will ever actually get married. But this simple question made me re-evaluate some things. Regardless of whether I get married or not, I don't want to have any regrets.

So what if this is my last year being single? What would I do differently? How would I take advantage of this season that God has me in?

It is so easy to lose perspective when being single isn't preferable or necessarily by choice. Trying to process how to live the rest of your life as a single can be ridiculously daunting and overwhelming. Checking each day/month/year off the list like it's just one less day to be single can be mundane and overall seem pointless. So I got to thinking. Let's not think about it in the long term. Let's think about it in the short term.

Maybe God does plan for me to get married one day, and if He does, I want to be prepared. I want to be in a marriage that is God-glorifying, mission-focused, and Gospel-driven. But if not. If marriage is not God's plan for me, all these preparations will not go to waste. Without marriage, I can still be stronger and grow closer to the Lord. The closer I am to God, the more people I can help bring into His kingdom.

I am less motivated by my singleness/desire for marriage as I am my love for God and His Word.

But I wonder if I spend more time focusing on God and less on my lack of a relationship, how could things change for me? How revolutionary could this year be?

How different will I view my waiting place if I am using it to work on my relationship with God? More focused time on God means less focused time on my singleness/waiting place.

It helps my heart to give myself a goal, but in the meantime, the ultimate goal is for God to transform my heart to want Him more than I want to be married.

I'm so type A that it's ridiculous. So naturally, I'm all about goal-setting.

October obviously has been dedicated to redeeming this waiting place God has me in through the Write31Days challenge.

I can say all day long that I want to make the most of this season, but those are just words until I put some action to it. I'm not sure what that's gonna look like month to month, but I'm waiting and listening for God's voice in this matter.

November is already decided though. As I talked about in my Weekend Encouragement // Part Three post, I will be starting a study called In the Wait. I'd love for any one out there waiting for something to join me. Just click here to look into it. Take the plunge. Know that God will honor our attempt to redeem our waiting places.

One hour. One day. One week. One month. One year. At a time. God will carry me through.

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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 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.}