waiting on God

have you ever sat in an audience listening to a speaker or to your pastor and think that they are delivering a message written especially for you. that is what happened to me last week. i think that pastor steven wrote sunday's sermon just for me. it was like he knew exactly what i needed to hear. he talked about hearing from God and how sometimes it feels as if He has gone silent. he used the greatest analogy. he said when we are waiting on God, it is like a teacher waiting on his students to take a test. the teacher is silent and not giving the answers to the test, b/c he already taught the lessons the student's should have known. and he is waiting to see if the student's will pass the test.

i feel like i am in a waiting period, kind of like i am on the phone with God and he has placed me on hold. it was like He gave me only so many details to a scenario and then he placed our call on hold, he left me in suspense and with many questions not answered. i am waiting for Him to pick back up and complete my story!

one thing that i learned from pastor steven and have been able to truly reflect on this week is that the process of this waiting period is actually the point of it all. God knows we want the answer, the yes or no, the direction. But He is waiting to see what we will learn and experience during the process.

and as pastor said, you know when God is silent - He is up to something. just like children, i know that from first hand experience with my 3 little ones.

i always question and wonder if what i think i am feeling or hearing or desiring is truly from God. pastor gave 4 ways that you know that God is speaking to you. first is the scriptures, this is first and foremost ~ everything God is telling you to do will line up with the bible. second is what He is impressing on your heart ~ God does give us the desires of our heart as long as we are delighting ourselves in Him. if our desires are lining up with scripture and we are listening and pursuing a relationship with Him ~ most likely what He is instilling in us will be from Him. third, what do others say - and this has to be the "right" others, people who hold you accountable and love you and want the best for you. and fourth what do the circumstances reveal.

i am waiting on a lot of answers to a lot of things right now in my life from small things to big things. here is an update to three things that have been in transition:

church ~ God led us from a church that we were a part of for over 5 years. we put a lot of our hearts and our souls into this church. it was a start up church and we served in almost every area there b/w jamil and i. when God removed us from there, it was quick and very unexpected. He has led us to a new church home! we are grateful and so excited to be a part of this new church. we continue to look forward to see how God will use us there. the church shopping process was painless and smooth. jamil has been serving in the student ministry, and i am feeling led to serve along side of him!

school ~ joshua got a spot in union academy, he will start on monday. tomorrow we have his open house. i am so excited! he is excited and nervous. this was a huge answer to prayer. i prayed that God would put him there and God's plan was to do just that.

as for me, i am not going to be going to nursing school in the fall. my schedule was pretty rotten, i had classes at times when i had no childcare or preschool. so we decided to put that on hold. i am going to pursue a doula certification and take classes so i can to get my 3 remaining prerequisites out of the way and also work on a lactation consultant certification. this can be more flexible while i still have 2 out of 3 kids at home. i know God has a plan for where and how He is going to use me. i am passionate about young women and young mothers and sharing the love of Christ with them.

finances ~ well, this is our trouble spot and we could use a lot of prayer. when we left the church, we also left behind jamil's part time salary. so we have been in prayer to exactly what we need to do. we desire to get out of debt and each time we take a step backwards it makes that even harder. we need to replace his salary and are praying about the best way to do that. there are some things in the works and a few ideas that we are praying through. please pray with us that God will show us exactly what we need to do to get our financial house in order.