To Wait, Not Worry

 “If I’m not seeing action on His [God’s] part, it’s very likely my flesh will start striving and my spirit will become exhausted from the toiling.” 

– She Reads Truth devotion ‘Sparrows and Kings‘

 

And this is why Scripture tells me to “Cease striving and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) and to “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7), and asks me, “Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27).

Worrying and striving does no good. It simply shows a lack of trust in the Sovereign Father. Yet I’m just as prone to it as anyone else.

Back in my single days, when God wasn’t bringing me a husband and I thought He should be, I resorted to scouring the online dating sites, and striking up conversations with any guy friend who “could be a potential”… only to have my heart hurt over and over.

When I was leaving my job at one ministry and looking for a new full-time ministry position, and God wasn’t providing clear direction, I spent hours in desperate searching, emailing, and filling out applications…. only to hit closed doors again and again.

And now, in this season, when I so want answers and the wait is long and frustrating, I still find myself searching and trying to figure it all out.

Worrying. Striving.

And the Lord asks me, “Is that doing you any good?” Forgive me, Lord.

Oh, for the grace to wait patiently for Him! To resist the urge to take life into my own hands! I have spent so much of my life striving, searching, and trying to take control, when I only needed to be trusting and following Jesus. All along while I was worrying, He knew the good plans He had for me (Jeremiah 29:11), and each time, He brought me to the answers in His time, in a way that could have only been Him.

And He will do it again.

Jesus, help me to be still and trust in Your beautiful plans… to wait, not worry.

Moving Day and a New Season!

Hi friends, family, and other readers!
I guess it has been a while since I updated anything here. Thanks for still sticking around and reading the occasional update!

I've recently started a new blogging project over at BeStillWaitingHeart.com. The blog there is intended to be a ministry platform for women who are in the same seasons of life that I am or have recently been walking through -- singleness, relationships, engagement, and young marriage. It's really just getting started and I don't have many readers yet, but I'm praying that God will bless and expand it, so that it can really be used as a ministry. If you're in any of those categories, or you know someone who is, please feel free to hop on over there and take a look, or send someone the link! My prayer is to build it into a community and an outreach, a place of truth and hope.

In other news... today was moving day! While we (Brett especially) will still be out to camp at least once a week, today was the day we officially changed our "home base" from camp to Juneau. The last few weeks have been a crazy in-between phase where we've lived half at camp and half in town. It will be really nice to be settled in here in Juneau for the winter.

We've spent the day working on our new apartment that we're renting in Juneau -- cleaning, freshening the place up, arranging furniture, unpacking, etc. It will probably take another day or two to get everything situated and settled. We are excited about making it "home" for the winter and about hopefully having some friends over soon after everything is unpacked and organized. Now that we're done with the camp season and living in town again for a few months, it will be good to catch up and rekindle relationships with our friends and acquaintances here.

Speaking of winter, relationships, and such, I'm working on putting together a video that highlights what "winter ministry" looks like for us as Echo Ranch staff. Certainly our winters look different from our summers, but it's all one big picture. Winter Ministry can be difficult to explain to people, so I'm hoping this video will help portray it a little better.

Hope you all are doing well!
Keep in touch!

Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness

 Today, October 15th, is Infant & Pregnancy Loss Awareness Day.

It’s a day to remember and to honor our little ones – our babies we got to hold for only a very short time, and then had to release to heaven. It’s a day to acknowledge that the loss is real. It’s a day to say, We still love you. We still miss you.

When I had my miscarriage this past June, and shared the story publicly, I was blown away by all the women in my life who told me that they, too, had lost a baby. Some had miscarried once, others two or three times. For some it had been just a month before, others 40 years ago, but they all remembered. They remembered the experience, the emotion, the grief.

And for me, talking to them was part of my healing. There’s an instant bond between women who have shared this experience, the death of a baby – a bond of being able to truly say I understand what you’re going through. So I am thankful for the women in my life who bravely spoke up, letting me know that they understood my grief, that they had been where I was. It’s so easy to feel isolated after having a miscarriage, and knowing I wasn’t alone made a huge difference.

Since then, roles have reversed. Now I’ve had the opportunity to be the woman who went through a miscarriage four months ago, saying I understand to someone who went through it a few days ago.

I guess what I want to say in all of this is, ladies, let’s not be afraid to tell our stories. Whether your story is miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth, infertility, the death of a child… There is someone else out there who has been through or is going through the same thing. Did you know 1 in 4 women experience pregnancy loss? You might have the opportunity to speak truth and comfort to someone who is hurting. Or you might receive comfort and understanding from an unexpected source. Either way… your story matters.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God.  (1 Corinthians 1:3-4)