Care to Wait With Me?

Just the other day...I was quite comfy-cozy, all nestled in my warm bed. Then, the covers were ripped off!

In other words, I moved (literally) from a place of complete comfort to a place full of unknowns.

Can I just be honest? I really, really don't like this unsettled feeling.

Icky. That's what it is.

Where I was before, I saw and knew why I was needed there. God had made that very plain.

But here? I have no clue. I don't know what I expected...maybe that God would just plop me right in the middle of some grand purpose and I would immediately be like, "Oh, this is why I'm here. I get it now."

It hasn't happened that way.

Instead, God and I are wrestling. I may or may not have shut my closet door and cried it out with Him a few times already.

And sometimes, when I really stop to think about it, I just slap my forehead and say... "Becky, REALLY?!"

As in...am I really going to be like the Israelites, forgetting over and over and over again that no matter what my eyes see, my God is in control?!

He has me right where He wants me. He sees me. He is working it all out in His time and He has a far greater plan than anything I could dream up! I just need to...

Rest. Be still. Wait.

But when you are like me...pacing at the gate, ready to let your God-given passions run like the wind...waiting is the hardest thing to do.

You see, I discovered something about myself during the last season of life...I can no longer be the quiet one in the corner. That place, while safe, became bondage for me. And if you want me to be honest, it's a returning to that place that I fear the most right now.

Status quo. Complacency. Passionless existence.

Mere survival from day to day.

I was made for more than that.

We all were.

And if we're really honest with ourselves, we all know it. It's not like the Holy Spirit lets up or lets us off the hook. He, our Guide, whispers continually to us...causing us to dream big and drink deeply of this thing called PURPOSE.

Psalm 138:8 speaks of it:

"The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands." 

Eph 2:10 speaks of purpose also:

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

God has chosen, for reasons only He can understand, to work through us, sinful men and women. There are specific reasons why you and I are on this planet, every fiber of our being made with His imprint, created for PURPOSE (Jer 29:11, Gal 1:15).

I'm floundering around a little bit in this journey, not quite sure of mine at the moment, but believing all the same, that the Faithful One will indeed show me in His good time.

And He will show you your purpose as well. I promise.

But neither one of us can hurry Him up. So maybe you and I, we can just encourage each other as we wait together, huh?

I'd like that. A lot.

Linking up at:

Women Living Well
Raising Homemakers

For His glory,

At the Whisper of His Name

Just the other day...I had every intention of having my husband walk in from a long trip to a clean house, kids that were bathed and ready for bed, and a wife that was ready to hang on his every word.

That is far from what happened.

The house was fairly clean.

The kids were in the process of bathing.

Then it all took a turn for the worst.

Princess #2 had turned the water off after her shower and realized that she didn't have her towel. She had begged to take a shower in my bathroom instead of hers and neither one of us had remembered to get it. I walked quickly to the other bathroom to get the towel and got back just in time to see her jump up, trying to clean off all the condensation that had formed on the inside of our shower door.

On the way back down, she let out a yell and I immediately saw the cut made in her fragile skin from the door handle.

It was deep and would need stitches, no doubt!

Immediately, we applied pressure and thank the Lord, it was not bleeding very much.

My mind raced..."Do I even know where the hospital is yet?" (We had moved into our house exactly 3 weeks prior.) More thoughts..."She is soaking wet and it's freezing outside. I have to find her warm clothes, fast. I have another child in the bathtub. How am I going to get her out also and all three loaded into the car? Is there anyone I know who can help me?"

"Jesus," I whispered.

I immediately thought of the neighbor I had met a few days prior and called her. No answer. Then it occurred to me, my sister in law just moved to the next town over! I called her and she was instantly on her way. While talking to her, I remembered having a conversation with another neighbor behind us about a nurse that lives in the neighborhood. "Maybe she could help," I thought.

I put my oldest in charge of watching the other two and promised to be back in just a minute.

I flew out our back door and was banging on the neighbor's back door in a matter of seconds. I'm sure they must think I'm nuts as I have no clue what I even said, but bless them, they immediately offered assistance (the neighbor that is a nurse was not home). My sweet new friend said she would be over in minutes to watch the other girls until my sister-in-law got to the house. They also told me about an urgent care place that was just minutes away and that they thought it was open 24 hours.

During the run back to my house, I whispered His name again, "Jesus".

My precious neighbor did arrive, just minutes later, telling me that she had already called the urgent care place to make sure they were open and that they could do stitches. What an angel! I had managed by this time to throw mismatched clothes on Princess #2 and dry her hair just a tiny bit, so out the door we flew.

On the way, we prayed, thanking the Lord for His provision already and then asking that He would help the doctors and nurses know exactly what to do. We also prayed for Him to help my sweet girl to endure the stitches without much pain.

Right after we arrived at the medical center, two people from our church showed up. I can't tell you what that meant to us to have them there! It helped to take our minds off of everything. And, not too much time passed before my husband was walking in the door, having returned from his first big trip with our church's youth group.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Princess #2 ended up with three stitches, put in place by the most wonderful doctor. The entire time, she did not cry or even whimper. What an answer to prayer! All she asked was that I keep my hand up close by her face so she wouldn't be tempted to look, so that's just what I did. She made me so proud!

And God? He made me even prouder, coming to our rescue as He did.

Sometimes, as Christians, we can be tempted to believe, "I have to pray elaborate, lengthy prayers before the Lord will listen to me or answer me."

What a lie!!!

I literally only had time to whisper His name and He faithfully worked on our behalf. He knew exactly what that word conveyed.

One of my favorite passages from Psalms says this:

"You know when I sit down and when I stand up; You understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest; You are aware of all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, Lord." 139: 2 - 4

God was well aware of what was happening, and not just aware in the sense that He "knew"...He was so aware that, I believe, He was already lining up the exact people that I would need to help me. In the same way that I was busy caring for my little girl, He was busy caring for us!

Why? Because He loves His children, all of us, that much. He who is always with us is always ready to help us, so faithful in our time of need. He is our ever-present help...our constant, consistent, doting Father...

...the One Who comes to our aid even at the very whisper of His name.

For His glory,