Woman, Wife, Mother
This week on Cultivating Life Wisdom Series, we are taking a look at God’s invitation to His people to come into the light and love wisdom. We learn about things that are important to God and a key concept that can be found throughout the Bible.
You will be challenged to accept God’s invitation. What will you choose?
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There is a time and season for everything under heaven. ~Ecclesiastes 3:1
I have personally learned this on my journey of this thing called life. I have had to give myself the time that is needed to be in each season that has been set before me.
There have been times when I have had to wait for things and times when I have been able to move forward.
I have experienced seasons of great success and seasons of epic failures.
I have had my challenges and my wins.
What I am most thankful for in it all is that I have never been alone. The Lord has always been right there beside me, guiding me along the way.
When I thought that my failures would utterly destroy me, the Lord showed me how to turn them into great leaning experiences. When I thought that the waiting would kill me, the Lord showed me how to turn the waiting into patience.
All things work together for the good of them that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. ~Romans 8:28
I have learned this personally. For there is nothing that has been set in my path, which the Lord has not taken, at some point and time in my life, to make it work for my good. I count that as a great blessing.
So now, I am in a season where I know that a change is coming, but I am waiting for it to happen. It reminds me of what it was like when I was having my babies. I would be at my 36th to 38th week, of pregnancy, and know that my baby could come at any moment. My body would remind me of the impudent arrival of a little one, but no one could tell me when he or she would get here. I just had to prepare and wait.
In God’s timing, all of my children arrived healthy and on time. It wasn’t the time that I had set, but they were on time because their birthday’s had been ordained by the Lord before they were even a thought in my mind. I just had to trust God and be pregnant.
That’s how this is. There are things in my life that I am waiting on. There are things that I am planning. There are things that I am ready to walk out, but I realize that I am still in the preparation stages. My season of change has not come, so I am in a season of waiting, planning, preparing. Yet, I hope and am expectantly awaiting the arrival of the promise that God has given to me.
Do you know what this is like?
Have you ever waited for something, whether it be tangible or not, to happen in your life. Have you waited to birth that baby, but needed the birthing process to start; Yet you knew that you had no control?
As I write this, I am even reminded of the birthing pains that come before a baby arrives. There are all types of contractions, emotions, instincts that come. These things proceed the arrival of a beautiful gift from heaven that no one has yet seen. This is how all of our gifts from God are.
When seasons change and we are blessed by God, who really imagine what it would really be like to receive the blessing? Once we behold it, we are blown away by all that God has truly given us.
My prayer for you today, as it is for myself, is that you would be able to trust God until your season changes; that you would trust Him in the preparation and planning stages. Have confidence in the Lord. For He always finishes what He starts. He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. He leaves nothing undone, and that includes our lives. So, surrender all that you are and all that you have to Him, for in His timing, seasons change.
Over the course of our life times we are faced with choices.
Our life experiences shape the way that we view the world and in a way, they predetermine the choices that we make…unless something or someone intervenes to help reshape the way that we view the world.
In this manner, our relationships become as important, if not more important than the experiences that we’ve had.
Last night, I sat and had a conversation with my husband about a few things. I realized, once again, that it is important to get wise counsel before making a choice, if I’m not sure what to do. (And in many cases, even when I’m sure what to do)
You see, just because we view the world in a specific way doesn’t mean that it’s the way that the world should be viewed. Just because we want to handle a situation a certain way, doesn’t mean that we should…
Sometimes…most of the times…no, all of the times…it is important for us to thoroughly consider the choices that we make. How will our choices affect other people? How will they affect us?
We have to take our time to make the proper, correct, right choice…the one that represents us…
I am thankful for my husband. I am thankful for his wisdom. I am thankful for our unity.
It is my hope that I would always be able to consider the various options before me and the effects of each choice that I make, wisely.
Have you ever realized that your choices should be thoroughly considered and in considering them, you changed your mind? If so, what or who made you see this? What would the outcome have been like if you made the other choice? Please share…
Sometimes life gets challenging. Obstacles arise and we find ourselves in the midst of being shaken. Not knowing what to do or how to react, we can easily put ourselves in the wrong predicament, if we are not careful. This is why it is so important to have a time of prayer, reflection, and contemplation in our lives.
The above example doesn’t mean that we have something horrible or devastating happening in our lives. Instead it is just a normal occurrence to have life challenges that cause us to act, or in some cases react.
Well, I don’t know about you, but I wish I knew what to say and do all of the time, but I don’t. Since I am aware of this, I don’t try to figure things out all on my own.
There used to be a time when I didn’t have a friend to call on in a time of need. In those situations, I learned to journal about my situation. I would pray that God would give me wisdom. I would read my Bible and once I believed I had an answer, I would act. Those days were hard, and I must admit, there are still times when I am unable to ask anyone , but God for help.
I’m glad that God is always there
He says that he will give us wisdom if we just ask for it.(James 1:5) When we feel lonely, He tells us to draw close to Him and He will draw near to us. (James 4:8)
I thank God for those times when He shows Himself strong in my life.
I am also very thankful for the friendships that I have now. I am able to call on a few women to pray and offer sound counsel. The Bible says that there is safety in counsel (Proverbs 24:6), but I never realized how safe it could feel until I had it.
Now when I have those challenging moments, I don’t abandon what I have always known. I still take time out to focus on what is happening in my life and around me. I journal about the issues and cares that are upon my heart. I pray and ask God for His infinite wisdom. I look for Him to move in my life. I also call for a praying, God-fearing, wise woman to assist me.
This morning I took the time to do this and some how, now that I’m done…the sun is shining a little brighter. My smile is a little bigger and my load is a little lighter.
What do you do when you are faced with life’s challenges? Do you journal or do you reflect on life in another way? Do you pray about the situation and wait on God to answer you and give you direction? Do you have a friend to call on or are you in that stage of life that I described earlier, where it’s just you and God?
I’d love to hear from you today…
This is just me, hoping that I am encouraging you as I am encouraging myself…
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been kinda hard on myself. I have made sure that I am taking time to rest and I am focusing in on the things that I need to get done, but there is still something that I’m not doing.
I’m not giving myself a break.
Well, I really enjoy reading, doing projects, blogging. I have had a lot going on and this causes my hobbies to take a back burner. I don’t really like this idea, but I realize that I have to be realistic. For this reason, I have decided to give myself a break.
I’m telling myself that it’s ok.
I’m not going to be so hard on myself, especially when it comes to my hobbies and readings. I have to take care of my responsibilities and focus on the things that are most important right now. If I don’t, I’ll get side tracked.
I have to be honest though…I would be really nice it I were able to read a 300 page book in one night, but I can’t. That means that I have to be kind to myself. Yes, there are tons of books that I want to read, but I will just have to plan my readings out. I also have to pray and hope that I will read my books in time.
Today, I am really reminding myself that I am not perfect. Although I am striving for excellence and I want to be great, I am just a woman trying to be my best and asking God to let His glory be shown through me.
It’s not about how hard I can be on myself to get things done. I need to give myself a break and have faith that God’s will, will be accomplished in my life. I will read what needs to be read. I will have time to enjoy my hobbies…until I make time for all of that I will take time to focus on my responsibilities an education.
I will not be so hard on myself all of the time. I will give myself a break.
I want to encourage you to do the same thing. Look at your life. See if you are being too hard on yourself in some areas. Is the pressure necessary? Is there a way that you could be a little easier on yourself?How? If you take the time to reflect as I am, I think you will find that you too, can give yourself a break.
The past two weeks have been a bit of a trying, yet enjoyable, time for me. There have been times when I have experience very high levels of stress and others when I have experience high levels of pleasure. If I had to sum it up, I would say it was like a wild roller coaster ride.
This summer my grandmother and great-grandmother passed away. After dealing with such great loss, my husband and I had decided that we needed to take a few days to get away. We took our kids to Hershey Park for one weekend. I must say, it was a needed mini vacation.
While there another family member and I, both having a small baby and had being under a lot of stress, decided to get on one of the most extreme rides at the park. It was about 20 minutes before the park was set to close, but we had been saying all day that we were going to get on one of those crazy rides.
It was dark and this ride was at the back corner of the park. We watched as a group of young people ran to the stairs ahead of us. In a moment of sheer excitement, we speed walked to the stairs. Once we got there we realized that we were about to do something very extreme.
Plastered all over the bright-colored walls were warning signs about what to and what not to do. This was different because other rides didn’t have this. The signs told us things like hold on, hold your head back, and keep your arms in. As I stood second in line, I looked away from a sign to see a man getting strapped in the seat. We begin to talk with a woman who was going on the ride for a second time. As she told us how fast it went, the ride took of and I could feel my nerves telling me not to try it. Before she could get to say three sentences and I could get to calm down, the man was back. That’s right it was a matter of seconds, or so it seemed.
Filled with adrenalin, I climbed into the seat. As I struggled to pull the harness down, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. I looked over at my partner in the crazy endeavor and nervously smiled. Looking up at the caution signs, I held my head back and tried to remember what to and what not to do. I could hear my kids and my husband cheering me on…nervously I smiled. Then suddenly the ride took off.
I was slung through the air like a sling shot. All I would do was close my eyes and scream. I opened my eyes for a second and we were upside down. I closed them back and gripped the harness as I tried to keep my head pulled back. Up, down, and around I went, but before I could get my barring, the ride was over and I was laughing. Yes laughing. I could not believe what had just happened. What was I feeling? Well, really, what had I felt? It was over.
Full of the rush, we ran down the stairs as my husband looked at up puzzled at to how it was over so soon. He had just sat down to change the baby’s diaper and had not finished, but we were done.
That’s how life feels right now. A 72 mile per hour ride in just 2 seconds. There is no time to lolly gag. It’s either I’m with it or I’m not. I’ve been given such great opportunities, but I realize that if I’m not careful, time will fly by and I would have missed the experience and opportunity. That’s why I have given myself some ground rules.
It’s either I can or I can’t, no in betweens. I have to commit myself. If I find that I can’t complete the task in a certain about of time, then it’s time to pick up the pieces that I’ve dropped and move on. I have to hold on to the harness and enjoy the ride.
I don’t have time to strive aimlessly at achieving goals that don’t fit into my life plan or the path that God has laid before me. I will not take on more what I can not bear and somethings have to be cancelled.
I must admit, there are times when I’m afraid. There are moments when I’m intimidated, but God is greater that all of my emotions. I am in my new season, full of excitement and adrenaline. I’m nervous and last night I wanted to quit. Yet I can hear the Holy Spirit encouraging me and I have to continue to move forward. There is a lot to do and a lot of ground to cover, but like the ride, I am equipped to do the unthinkable as long as God is with me.
