Day 6: Waiting Here For You

I love this song sung by Jesus Culture!

Waiting Here For You

The words are just so beautiful.  "Waiting here for you with our hands lifted high in praise."

That is what waiting should look like.  "We come with expectation."

"You are everything You've promised.  Your faithfulness is true.  We're desperate for Your presence.  All we need is You!"

This waiting can turn into desperation.  Those are the times when I just beg Jesus to come back and take it all away.  I can't bargain with God though, so I have to go through it.  No shortcuts around this one.  I have to learn.

How do you live with joyful waiting when you're broken?  Life is mostly broken pieces these days.  A stained-glass window that has been shoved out of place and broken.  How do you get all the pieces back into place?

It seems so right that this is what joyful waiting looks like, but how?  How do you live that way with a sickness, terminal, mental, or otherwise long and painful?  How do you live that way in a long, dragging, financially difficult time?  How do you live that way through a divorce or through raising a child who seems to be going the opposite way from what you teach them?

It's so easy to say it, but to do it takes much more.  It takes opening up our hands that we have squeezed so tightly around our dreams.  Letting those dreams float away, so that God can hand us his rock-solid dreams.  Which encompass so much more of our lives than we could imagine.  Which shape us into who He has planned us to be.

It takes a choice.  It takes grace.  It takes God strength.  Because I can't do it on my own strength.

"He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint."
   ~Isaiah 40: 29-31 (NKJV)


To see more posts in this series just click on the label "31 Days" under the title of each post in this series, or go back to Day 1 here and choose from the list of days listed at the bottom of the post.

Day 5: Stories of Joy pt.2

To see more posts in this series just click on the label "31 Days" under the title of each post in this series, or go back to Day 1 where each day is listed at the bottom of the post.

As I was writing the first part of this post, I was reminded of a story that I was going to tell in August about a shoe (I'm not getting off topic, I promise).  And since that would have made my post impossibly long, I decided to split it into 2 parts.

Since graduating from college and moving back to PA, I've been missing one of a pair of really cute green shoes.  I thought it fell out of my car while I was packing to move out of my college apartment, and therefore lost forever somewhere in VA.  I saved the other shoe, but in July of this year, I picked that shoe up and contemplated throwing it away.  I thought I would never get another opportunity to wear it.  Instead, I threw it back in the pile and said I would do it another time.

One morning in August, I was listening to a podcast (I can't exactly remember what it was called) that was about God's love for us.  Earlier that morning (like super early, 2am), I had been praying, asking for more understanding of God's love for me.  I know that God loves me, but I don't know, ya know?  Anyway... as I was listening to that podcast, I was just hit with a revelation of how much God loves me.  I was blown away, I was completely amazed.  And then the phone rang.

It was my mom.  My sister and her had been cleaning out one of the cars (my sister's car broke and she needed another one to get to work).  So a little back story, at the end of my senior year of college my car broke down on the way home (in the left lane of a busy highway!!) for Easter break.  So I had to take a different car back down to finish out the school year.  So that was the car they were cleaning out when they found... my shoe!!  Hidden in the trunk in a crack where I never would have looked!  Again, I was blown away, I didn't know what to say.  I bounced around my kitchen a few times and then I sank down to my knees, wanting to weep with joy and shout at the same time.

How did I go from a broken-down car, to a missing shoe, to another broken-down car, to a found shoe?  I didn't even know that I was waiting to find my shoe, but somehow it all makes sense now.  It was such a simple thing, but it was something that God worked out in just the right timing.  And the result was pure joy.

Even as I wait for other life things to happen, I can still be filled with joy by the small things that usually go unnoticed.  I can be filled with joy over the changing of the fall leaves and the briskness to the fall air.  And the sunrises and sunsets of fall that are always spectacular, and never fail to fill my heart with awe and thankfulness.

Five Minute Friday: Write

So I decided that even though I am doing this 31 day series, I would still take time to write the Five Minute Friday Free Write.  We'll see if this continues throughout the month, but today I have time for 5 minutes.

The word today is: Write.

Go.

I think I've always loved to write.  School not so much, but to write yes.  Maybe that's why I survived in school.  I could write papers and remember written things for tests.

Sometimes, I look through old journals.  I don't know if I have any from before college, but when I look back on the journals that I do have, I wonder who was writing them.  Was it me?  The person who wrote those words certainly had more wisdom than me.  It makes me feel like I'm getting less smart as I age.

Where do these words come from?  I'm not full of words, at least they don't spill out when I talk.  But at night, when I try to sleep, they spill into my mind.  Problems are solved, ideas are born, conversations are had (I'm working on that one, more conversations with God, less with the problem).

I love to write with a pen.  The words flow more freely with a pen.  This typing thing is clumsy and takes too much time to think, to make my fingers go exactly where they should.  Writing with a pen is a dream.  It's me, my writing, not generated by a computer.

Drawing and writing are so much different for me.  I can only draw what I see, I can't make it come out of my head.  But writing, is a whole different world.  There are endless possibilities.  I don't usually write fiction, but I can, I have when I was younger (like elementary school), I write best when it is something that is coming from my own thoughts and experiences.  That's what I know the best.

Hmm.. fiction based on real life?  I'll think about it.  Maybe after October is over.

Stop.

Day 4: Stories of Joy pt.1

To see more posts in this series just click on the label "31 Days" under the title of each post in this series, or go back to Day 1 where each day is listed at the bottom of the post.

I had too long of a story to put into this post, so I've decided to split it into 2 parts.  Part 2 coming tomorrow!

So there are different things that you have to wait for.  There are negative things, like going to the dentist to get your wisdom teeth out (sorry dentists).  And there are ambivalent things, that don't really make you excited or anxious (I'm having trouble coming up with an example at the moment, although these might be the most common and happen every day).  And there are things that make you super excited, such as seeing a friend after a long time or a family vacation or even ice cream (I love some good ice cream!).

Right now, I am super excited about something that I think is going to happen, but I can't really say what it is because it's not my story to tell.  But I am super excited!!  Like I'm sitting here bouncing and waving my arms in excitement (I'm sure I'm not the only one who does it)!  

So this is joy.  And I'm waiting expectantly for something super exciting!  But this isn't always what my joy looks like.  It can be a little quieter and less wild, but it is still bubbling.  It is still rejoicing, praising.

Joy is a deep feeling that goes right down to your toes and shoots out of you like fireworks!  It makes you feel fully alive.  To me, joy is more like bliss (what a weird word to say) than happiness.  Joy is heavenly.  It pours out from the golden streets of heaven.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  ~Romans 15: 13

May you be filled with all joy and peace as you wait and trust in the Lord today!!

Day 3: Long Winter

To see more posts in this series just click on the label "31 Days" under the title of each post in this series, or go back to Day 1 where each day is listed at the bottom of the post.

I'm not a huge fan of winter.  The first snow is pretty and exciting.  But after the 10th, 5th, 3rd time, its old for me.

I love to ice skate, but I don't love the coldness so much.  For one thing, we mostly use space heaters in our house, pretty much only in the kitchen, so the rest of the house is freezing!  Then, working in the cold isn't very fun.  Feeding calves takes so much longer, because you have to thaw their buckets of water to put the milk in.  And sometimes scraping the barnyard doesn't happen for days if everything is frozen solid.  And I have yet to find a good pair of work gloves to keep my hands warm, but also wash easily and hold up to the work of a farm (and that fit my small hands).

It feels so strange to be talking (or complaining) about winter and cold while I'm sitting here sweating!

All that to say, I sit with great anticipation, waiting for the first small signs of spring.  Then I run barefoot and crazy through the cold grass at noon.

But until then, do I wait gloomily for the first crocuses or daffodils or the first buds to appear on the dogwood trees?  Or do I give up hope as I wait for the ice to thaw on a certain relationship?

Instead, I enjoy the time that I have before the warm weather brings the busy harvest time and less time with family.  I dig more deeply into the friendships that I do have while I wait for the Lord to soften hearts and bring understanding for a broken relationship.  I enjoy where I am right now, doing what I love, even if it is hard, while I wait for what the next season will bring.

I'm beginning to realize that is what joyful waiting is about, being in the now and seeing and enjoying it for what it is.  So I hope I'm not going to be too repetitive in my future posts.  And hopefully I'll have a few guest posts to change things up.  I haven't run out of things to say, I'm just starting to understand what these words mean to me.

Day 2: The Waiting Test

My mind went blank on me.  I've been looking forward to this for about 48 hours now...  Seriously, I only found out about this series on Monday.  When I went to bed Monday night or when I was working that next morning, I had plenty of ideas floating around in my head about what I should write.  But when I sit down and try to put it into words....... the wisps disappear.

Even as I struggle to write this second post for this series, I am reminded to wait.  Not to rush into writing what I want to write.  But to wait.

To wait on the Lord.

Just take a deep breath.


I have so many things that I could say.  I made a list of things that I want to write about this month.  But none of them seem right for this moment.

Waiting is hard.  I think it's sometimes a test from God to see if we actually trust Him to do what He has promised.  How long can we hold out that trust?

I'm going to be very honest here.  Before we were married, a couple friend of ours prayed over us and got a word from the Lord that God has given me the gifting to be a great mother, and that some day, in His timing, I will be.  That was a promise, right?  Josiah and I have been married 4 years.  I'm glad that we have waited to have children, but some times that desire comes to the surface, as we get older.

I didn't have the dream to have kids when I was a teenager or going through college, it just wasn't there.  But I do now, some days, especially when I see all the cute, wonderful families at church.  But for now, we wait.

And where is the joy in that?

It is in the quiet before the cries.  It is in the restful nights of sleep that we (usually) get.  It is in the continued learning to know who we are as husband and wife.  It is in learning who I am, who God created me to be, before the me gets knotted up in the messy joy of family.  It is in the learning to see what I have now and enjoying it for the gift that it is, knowing there will be more gifts to come.


To see more posts in this series just click on the label "31 Days" under the title of each post in this series, or go back to Day 1 here and choose from the list of days listed at the bottom of the post.

31 Days: The Joyful Waiting, Day 1

So this is pretty last minute, but I decided to link up with The Nester and many others for the 31 Day series.  So this is where I try to write for 31 days straight (or have guest posts, photos, songs, somehow get it done for 31 day!)

“And so, my children, listen to me,

   for all who follow my ways are joyful.

 Listen to my instruction and be wise.

 Don’t ignore it.

 Joyful are those who listen to me,

   watching for me daily at my gates,

   waiting for me outside my home!

 For whoever finds me finds life

   and receives favor from the Lord."

 ~Proverbs 8: 32-35

I think that life is full of waiting.  I'm always waiting for the next big thing to happen and I miss out on the little details that can bring so much joy to my life.

A couple months ago, this phrase popped into my head.  I was probably having one of those grumpy mornings, where I don't want anything to do with happiness, much less joy.  I was waiting for something to happen that seemed to be dragging it's feet.  Something that I couldn't control.  So this phrase "joyful waiting" popped into my head, unasked for.  I wrote it down because I didn't know what to do with it at that point.  As I was thinking more and more about this whole writing for 31 days thing, those words came back to me and I started formulating blog posts in my head (of course this was when I was trying to fall asleep).

So here I am, I'm going to attempt this for the first time and see what comes out.  I don't know what each day will bring or exactly where I'm going with this, but that's the fun and scary part!

I'll link each day's post back to this page, so that at the end of the month, or next year, or whenever, someone can see all of my 31 Day posts together.

  Day 2: The Waiting Test
  Day 3: Long Winter
  Day 4: Stories of Joy pt.1
  Day 5: Stories of Joy pt.2
  Day 6: Waiting Here For You
  Day 7: When The Time Comes
  Day 8: Beauty Here
  Day 9: How Long O Lord?
  Day 10: Dreams pt.1
  Day 11: Dreams pt.2
  Day 12: Rainy Day Fun
  Day 13: Sunday Psalm
  Day 14: Crisis of Faith
  Day 15: Joyfully Waiting: A Song For You
  Day 16: Life Worth Living
  Day 17: Not For A Moment
  Day 18: Waiting To Grow Up
  Day 19: As I Was Waiting
  Day 20: Christ Is Enough
  Day 21: Surrendering Ourselves To God
  Day 22: I Shall Come Forth As Gold
  Day 23: I Love Surprises
  Day 24: Sacrifice Of Praise
  Day 25: Life Is Now
  Day 26: In The Barrenness
  Day 27: Receive
  Day 28: From
  Day 29: Be
  Day 30: The End