Waiting, Waiting, Waiting, ...

This post was originally published on July 1, 2010.  

Waiting…..Waiting…..Waiting……

For what do we wait?

• School to start (or end)
• Special date (anniversary, birthday, Christmas)
• Birth of a child
• Marriage
• Job

Right now I’m in the “job waiting” period of life.  I have tried to hasten God’s timetable by emailing and calling to find out status of job.  This morning, as I continued the Sweeter Than Chocolate Bible study of Hebrews 11, God got my attention!!

Notice verses 13-16 (NIV)

13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

God’s timetable?  Hah!  I’ve been trying to rush Him.  My Lord will not be rushed.  I need to learn from the story of Sarah, Hagar, and Abraham.  I am pausing, I am waiting, I trust God’s timetable.

My sisters, are you anxious?  Are you waiting on God?  Are you rushing the timetable?  What immediate peace I feel when I say to my Lord, “God, according to your good, pleasing, and perfect will, I trust that YOUR timetable is perfect and I submit to YOU.”

Therefore, my sisters, place your day, week, month, and years in the Lord’s hands.  He is able and willing to reveal His plans for you, according to HIS schedule.

Deb

Gillaspie, Pam. “Sweeter than Chocolate – Hebrews 11.” Bible Study/Bible Study Tools.   Precept Ministries, 2009. Web. 1 July 2010.

Klein, Zach. Weekly Schedule. N.d. Flickr. N.p., 31 Oct. 2006. Web. 1 July 2010.  <http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachklein/284926479/&gt;.

Wisdom from the Great Nephew

This post was originally published on August 3, 2010.  I have since migrated to a new platform.

Continually, God amazes me with how He uses everyday life to get my attention.  Lately, my attention has been riveted to an almost 3 year old who now lives in my house.  (His birthday month is “Tember” as he told me last night.)

Eric takes pleasure in almost everything.  I have learned he is also soaking up everything around him.  Casual phrases have to be watched.  Dangerous items have to be moved.  He will open every bottle he can find.  (Yesterday morning it was a bottle of purple folk art paint left on the coffee table.  Fortunately, there was only paint on Eric.)

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.”  Light is a lot like Eric.  It penetrates every part it reaches.  My heart already has expanded with love for this little guy.  I am still working on adjusting the demands of my day for him.  I seem to get NOTHING accomplished!  I have to be very quiet when I awake in the a.m. or Eric is also up with the chickens.

Our television watching habits have changed.  We watch very little, having no converter box nor satellite.  We mostly watch crime shows and movies.  (Hulu.com and Netflix are great tools.)  I can almost quote Monsters, Inc.  I have also learned how absorbed a child gets with a television on.  Without the television on, he will play and play and play.  Put in a movie and he becomes a zombie.

I am reminded of Philippians 4:8,  “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.” (NIV)

Conversations are changed.  Adult discussions occur when Eric is asleep or in the bedroom with his mommy, my precious niece Noelle.

And so I began thinking, why are the changes necessary?  Does this mean I can’t watch television anymore unless it is appropriate for children?  (Much of what is “appropriate for children” is still garbage!)  My standard should be Philippians 4:8.  If what I watch, read, listen to, say, is not right, I should not watch, read, listen to, or say it.

What has become interesting about this entire process of studying God’s Word and applying the lessons to my life is that I do not miss what I formerly thought I could not miss!  Oscar and I still enjoy some crime shows.  We still enjoy going to movies on a Saturday morning (when tickets are much cheaper).  We still enjoy reading and listening to books.  However, we both have found we avoid filling our minds and ears and eyes with garbage.

As for my niece Noelle?  She is a wonderful, Christian mother.  She shows concern about what her son watches and to what he listens.  She admonishes adults about conversations (in a gentle, loving way).  She teaches Eric to behave and teaches manners.  She is in church and he happily goes to “Train School” each Sunday.

My life may have been turned upside down this summer with Eric’s arrival (and his mommy’s).  God is using this little boy to show his Aunt "Dabbie" how He wants His light to penetrate every corner of my life.

Therefore, my sisters, “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.”

Deb

The Proverbs 31 Woman

This post was originally published on August 5, 2011.  I have since migrated to this platform.

Ladies, you know that woman, right?  She’s the one who rises before dawn, takes care of her family, runs a business, has a spotless house, takes care of everyone else?  I let someone else advise me about her.  Solomon was writing about his mother-in-law.  Consequently, I have been thinking, “That’s not the wife.  That’s the mother-in-law.”

THEN God spoke to me, “You ARE a mother-in-law, too, my child.”  I have two precious daughters, given to me by my two amazing sons.

Am I teaching them?  Could they write anything like this about me?

God means for us to be women of excellence, women of virtue, women who strive for the best.  Thank you, Lord, for Megan and Regan.

Kaylee Elizabeth

On May 15, 2011, I received a gift from the Lord.  I became a grandmother, Nona, to this precious baby girl.  What am I teaching her by having a cluttered house, dishes in the sink ALL the time, unmade beds?  I want to teach her to be a “virtuous woman.”

My prayer for Kaylee?

That she love the Lord, her God, with all her heart.  That she see in her Nona and her Grouch their love for Jesus and for her.

I want to lead by example.

Therefore, my sisters, be aware of those around you.  Are you showing Jesus, to the littlest of all?  Is there clutter in your life which needs to be pruned?  Is Jesus first?  Can your “in-laws” say, “Our mother-in-law is a virtuous woman?”

Lord, help me.  Prune me.  Mold me to be the woman you want me to be.

Deb