Yes!

I just love this! It is so true and when I'm having a hard or bad day I try to remind myself of this.

As I Wait

I am doing a Good Morning Girls Advent study with three of my favorite friends and during my study on Friday's verses (Romans 15:12-13) I was looking at cross references for verse 12 and God brought me to these verses from Jeremiah 17:

5 Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit."

 

As we are waiting on the last piece of adoption paperwork and praying that we can travel in January I needed this reminder that my there is no strength within my flesh (my strength comes from the Lord) and if I trust in Him (and not just IN him but my trust IS Him), I have no reason to fear or be anxious - He is in control and will work everything out according to His perfect plan.

 

As I wait I am choosing to focus on this special time of year and the true reason we celebrate CHRISTmas!
 

Waiting

 

 

In recent posts we established that I am not good at waiting nor do I like to wait (who does?). Once I make up my mind on something I am focused on it at full speed ahead. Well, this mindset or personality trait (or whatever you want to call), is not conducive to the international adoption process because that process is all about waiting (and paperwork).  Lots and lots of waiting. I actually sent Jason a text not long ago that says, "I don't think I am cut out for this," and by 'this', I mean waiting (and being patience).

I know that God is in control and that everything is in His time, but that doesn't always make the waiting easier. Lately I have been trying to put the adoption waiting at the back of my mind and focus on the here and now, but it is so hard! So, I decided to do a little study on waiting and share some of what I learned (I actually did this study a few months ago, but am just now getting around to posting it).
 

Waiting requires the passage of time (which is of course the hard part), but when I read this I immediately had the thought that the passage of time is necessary because it is during that time of waiting God is working and fulfilling His plans. God's timing is perfect and He will accomplish the plans He has laid out, but it will be in His time, not ours. It reminds us that God is in control, and although it is hard for a control freak like me I should really see it as an amazing source of peace and comfort because I know that if I were in control (and I admit that at times I slip into thinking that I am) I would completely botch everything. I would much rather have our perfect, loving, all mighty Father in control. 

 

All of this reminded me of one of my favorite songs Sovereign Over Us by Aaron Keys:

'You are working in our waiting,

Sanctifying us

When beyond our understanding

You're teaching us to trust'

Ahh, there it is...trust. Waiting is God asking us if we trust Him. Do we trust Him even when we can't see what He is doing? When we have no idea of His timetable? It is in the waiting that He is teaching us--to trust Him, to follow Him, that He is in complete control, and that though we can't see it He has a perfect plan. It is hard at times, but I know that trusting God and waiting on His timing will be so very worth it. So I will keep waiting...and trusting....

"If any are inclined to despond, because they do not have such patience, let them be of good courage. It is in the course of our feeble and very imperfect waiting that God Himself, by His hidden power, strengthens us and works out in us the patience of the great saints, the patience of Christ Himself."
– Andrew Murray

 

Steady My Heart

I've needed this song many times during the past week and a half:

Thoughtful Thursday

The pathway is broken and the signs are unclear
And I don't know the reasons why You brought me here.
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley if You want me to.
Cause I'm not who I was when I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You’re not through with me yet.
So if all of these trials bring me closer to You
Then I will go through the fire if You want me to.

~Ginny Owens

Thoughtful Thursday

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

~Deuteronomy 31:8

Help Me Find It

My new favorite song!! Love it!

Thoughtful Thursday

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

~Psalm 62:5-8

Thoughtful Thursday

This post by Ann Voskamp is an absolute must read:

After Steubenville: 25 Things our Sons Need to Know About Manhood

Thoughtful Thursday

“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

~Luke 6:43-45

Thoughtful Thursday

The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.

~Psalm 145:14-18

New Every Morning

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.

~Lamentations 3:22-25

Eternal Life

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

~Romans 6:23

Thoughtful Thursday

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

~1 Peter 1:6-7

Thoughtful Thursday

GRACE IN TRIALS
from The Valley of Vision

Father of Mercies,
Hear me for Jesus’ sake.

I am sinful even in my closest walk with thee;
it is of thy mercy I died not long ago;
Thy grace has given me faith in the cross
by which thou hast reconciled thyself to me and me to thee,
drawing me by thy great love,
reckoning me as innocent in Christ though guilty in myself.

Giver of all graces,
I look to thee for strength to maintain them in me,
for it is hard to practise what I believe.
Strengthen me against temptations.

My heart is an unexhausted fountain of sin,
a river of corruption since childhood days,
flowing on in every pattern of behavior;
Thou hast disarmed me of the means in which I trusted,
and I have no strength but in thee.

Thou alone canst hold back my evil ways,
but without thy grace to sustain me I fall.

Satan’s darts quickly inflame me,
and the shield that should quench them
easily drops from my hand:
Empower me against his wiles and assaults.

Keep me sensible of my weakness,
and of my dependence upon thy strength.
Let every trial teach me more of thy peace,
 more of thy love.

Thy Holy Spirit is given to increase thy graces,
and I cannot preserve or improve them
unless he works continually in me.

May he confirm my trust in thy promised help,
and let me walk humbly in dependence upon thee,
for Jesus’ sake.

Thoughtful Thursday

Thy Way is Perfect
by Amy Carmichael

Long is the way, and very steep the slope,
Strengthen me once again, O God of Hope.

Far, very far, the summit doth appear;
But Thou art near, my God, Thou art near.

And Thou wilt give me with my daily food,
Powers of endurance, courage, fortitude.

Thy way is perfect; only let that way
Be clear before my feet from day to day.

Thou art my Portion, saith my soul to Thee,
O what a Portion is my God to me.

Thoughtful Thursday

Loved this post by Ann Voskamp:

When You are Weary of Vanilla Christianity

Thoughtful Thursday

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

~Revelation 12:10-11

Happy New Year, Blogging Trouble, & a Verse

Happy New Year (a week late)! I can't believe it is 2013! Praying God will richly bless each and every one of you in the coming year!

On an unrelated note, I have several draft posts almost ready to publish, but Blogger seems to be having technical difficulties and I can't upload the pictures for my posts which means I haven't been able to finish and publish the posts (any fellow bloggers having this problem?). The problem has been going on for the past several days and as of today I still can't upload photos. I am hoping they will have it fixed soon so I can catch up on my blogging, but in the meantime here is a verse that our ladies Bible study group read last night that I just absolutely loved:

These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.

~Revelation 17:14 (NKJV)

Thoughtful Thursday

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

~1 Timothy 1:15-16