I couldn’t wait for the day that guy would walk out of my favorite country song and into my life.
Then came disappointment. Shattered expectations. Uncertainty. Frustration. Bitterness. And ultimately, a calloused heart.
By the time I was 21, it was, Forget this! ‘Love’ is too full of failure for me to waste time waiting anymore. I’m a good girl, I deserve a good man. What is the problem here?
Read the rest of Phylicia’s post here: Why Don’t I Have a Boyfriend?.
Today started like any normal Sunday. I was up and ready in good time to make it to church early with the rest of the worship team for warm-up. Worship went smoothly, and the congregation settled in to the sermon. We had one of our missionaries in town, so we were eager to hear how his ministry was going. He took us through a brief slideshow of pictures from his mission field, and we were all ears.
Then he began to share what the Lord had been speaking to him during this last term. The message he brought back to us was one very pertinent for American Christians, and the church at large.
In his particular field, the natives generally follow animism. They make offerings and prayers to the spirits of the rocks and trees around them, hoping that by so doing they will win favor and help. This missionary shared with us that in his own life and in that of the church, we have strayed to this kind of thinking. We understand the cross was used to save us, but then we live as if after salvation, everything is based on what we do. We think that we win favor and blessing by our good acts.
That is not what scripture teaches. We can do nothing that God needs, and therefore anything He sends is not in response to anything we can offer. Acts 17: 22-31 contains Paul’s sermon on Mars’ Hill. In it, Paul expounds on this idea. We cannot merit God’s favor. We can only serve Him because as God He is worthy of our service. His blessings are not tied to our behavior, but flow from God’s grace and goodness towards us.
So the question for the day is, are you ready to let go? Are you trying to live the Christian life, and by so doing earn a place in Heaven? Earn a good life? Earn health and prosperity? Earn favor with God and men? Or have you let go of doing and embraced service?
The gospel is not about you. The good news is about Christ. He paid the debt. He transforms us into His own likeness. He glorifies Himself through us. As we serve Him, growing in the knowledge of His love, He is able to use us mightily.
It’s all about Christ.
Let’s leave it that way.
Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4 NKJV
Robin Mark’s “The Young Man”
And what of us, so distant from that far gone day?
Okay, okay, so you’re all getting impatient with my lack of posting by now. All of you, that is, except those readers who have been through this time themselves (and isn’t it the time of your life!) and know how little time a Best Friend leaves for anything else. I thought I was going to call this post “This is why I never wanted a boyfriend,” and I may yet write that post, but I decided that tonight I want to share a video. Sister sent me the link many months ago, perhaps over a year ago, and we have both enjoyed it very much. Now, it has special significance for me…so enjoy.
Sir K and I will be embarking on our “forever and ever” this summer, so be prepared to wait a little longer between posts for a few months while we get a wedding planned!
Have you ever felt like you were ready to begin the next phase of your life, but that God hadn’t opened the door yet?
Perhaps you’ve been trying to get into colleges, but you didn’t get accepted into any of the ones you wanted. Maybe you’re job hunting, but nothing is turning up. Maybe you’re waiting for Prince Charming, but he’s not being very obliging about ringing your doorbell. Some of my readers might even be trying for a child, but having no success. Maybe it’s something completely different.
Have you felt like telling God that you were ready and that you wished He’d hurry up and open the door?
Sometimes we’re not as ready as we think we are.
For the past 5-8 years, I have felt like God has had to push me out of my comfort zone to move me forward. Usually He used my mother to jump start something new, because I really didn’t like change. Which meant that my mother had to encourage me to go ahead and volunteer different places, to go on and really hunt for a job, to start singing with the church worship team. Each time, I’ve been a little apprehensive about the new activity, but each time, I have also very much enjoyed the time I have spent doing it.
About six months ago or so, I told my mother that I finally felt “ready” to move on to the next phase of my life. This was a new feeling for me, and I recognized that I probably wasn’t really ready, even though I felt like it. We allowed that my success with my job, which I had been very nervous about in the beginning, was helping me to feel that I was ready for a new challenge in another realm – relationships.
So, I was ready. Or was I?
Another three months went by. Nothing much had changed. I should mention here that I have a very good friend that I met about the time that 3G went off to college. Sir K had helped to fill the void left by 3G not being around all the time. Over the three years I’d known him, Sir K had become very close. So when I felt like I was “ready,” although I tried not to assume anything, I did have a pretty good idea who God might have in mind.
So three months ago, I was praying about things, and I began asking “when?” It was becoming increasingly difficult to be just friends with Sir K. I had refrained from asking God if this was “the one,” but the cry of my heart was for a deeper relationship, and I felt like I needed to know something now. Well, apparently God agreed with me, because that night He gave me an answer. Only one word, but it brought such peace that I knew it was from Him.
“Soon.”
No, it didn’t give me any idea when exactly things would change. No, I still couldn’t have told you who. But yes, I was satisfied. And I was at peace.
Where before I had been “ready,” now I was at peace with the situation. And in that peace I could be patient. God would bring it to pass in His perfect timing. And so He has.
A couple of weeks ago, Sir K and I embarked on something we have termed an Intentional Relationship. I’ve not been thrilled with the concept of dating as a means to get to know your potential spouse, and on the other side, courtship as defined by the ultra conservatives seemed a little restrictive, besides requiring a lot of parental involvement. My parents have been helping me transition from child to adult, so the last thing they wanted to do was drive or limit my decision making in terms of a spouse. So Sir K and I have been finding our own way, through lots of discussions and spending more time with each other and our families.
What point am I trying to make in all this? I just wanted to encourage all those of you, no matter what door you’re waiting on, no matter whether you think you’re ready or not, all those of you who are contemplating entering a new phase in your life, to wait for God’s timing and His peace before moving forward. Although I felt like I was ready, I tried very hard not to give any such indication, as I felt that could cloud the issue if my friend was either waiting for God’s okay, or deciding that this was not the direction that God wanted him to go in. Instead, I lived in the peaceful hope that God would indeed work everything out in His own perfect way, which He has proceeded and is proceeding to do. He makes all things beautiful in His time.
So what are you “ready” to embark on? College, a new career, marriage, children? Whatever door you are waiting for God to open, know that He will open it in His timing, and that it will be well worth the wait. In retrospect, Sir K and I have each seen things God was teaching us in the last 6 months to a year. We’ve lost nothing in waiting, and instead have been able to build our foundation of friendship that much stronger. No matter what you’re waiting for, God will bless you for waiting on His timing.
Sir K and I are excited to see where God will take us in the coming months, we are thankful to Him for His perfect timing, and above all, we desire that He always remain the center of our relationship.
May He bless you as much as He is blessing us.
Three years. Yep, I’ve been blogging just that long. As of today, in fact.
What started out as a college assignment has grown into a continuing pastime. I enjoy sharing my thoughts here, and getting the occasional feedback from readers. Just blogging about things can help me think through them, which is good, and it’s also fun to share some stories from my childhood.
When I began this blog, I would not have guessed that I’d like it so well that I would keep it up. But here I am, three years, 200-odd posts, and several thousand visits later, still blogging. The journey has been good. If I went back and read all my early posts, I would probably find plenty of things that I would say differently now, or that I would not say at all. But that’s part of growing up, and yes, you’ve been privileged to see some of that here.
What’s to come? Well, I’m still blogging, and I have reason to think I’ll keep on blogging for some time to come. Someday I might create a new blog, one on which I share the tales of a second generation homeschool mom. But for now, I’m still just a graduate from the best kind of school I know – a homeschool.
For those of my readers who are new, welcome, and have a look around. For those who’ve been with me for a long time, thanks for the support and the feedback! I look forward to sharing with you all in the days to come.
~Homeschool Graduate
I'm not necessarily your average homeschool graduate, but I'm here to share my thoughts on homeschooling, growing up, and life in general. Take a look around, and I hope you will be encouraged and challenged by the things you find.
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