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Posts Tagged ‘Waiting’

He’s In the Waiting

Posted in GOD, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged , , , , , on September 15, 2017| Leave a Comment »

person-waiting_1048-1707

This week seemed to just fly by, filled with work, creating, play family and friends.

It was so full, I simply forgot to write a post yesterday.

So, in lieu of a more typical post here on itsawonderfilledlife, I am going to share a song that I discovered this week, while working on furniture in my garage.

I discovered it, after listening to a song on YouTube, and songs kept playing. As this one played, names of people were laid upon my heart … the woman receiving stem cells, the new teacher with so much to learn in order to teach it, the young woman hoping that she will get the job she interviewed for, the couple hoping to adopt a child, the woman whose dad had suffered a health decline with no indicators as to what is happening, the couple whose adult daughter wants nothing to do with them, the woman who is caring for her dying mother and child with special needs …

SO many people are waiting …

So, if you are waiting, or if someone you love is, I pray that the message of the lyrics of this song, might bring encouragement. You are not alone in the waiting.

“Take Courage”
(click link above for video)
(Kristene DiMarco)

Slow down, take time
Breath in He said
He’d reveal what’s to come
The thoughts in His mind
Always higher than mine
He’ll reveal all to come

Take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He’s in the waiting
He’s in the waiting
Hold onto your hope
As your triumph unfolds
He’s never failing
He’s never failing

Sing praise my soul
Find strength in joy
Let His Words lead you on
Do not forget
His great faithfulness
He’ll finish all He’s begun

So take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He’s in the waiting
He’s in the waiting
Hold onto your hope
As your triumph unfolds
He’s never failing
He’s never failing

Take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He’s in the waiting
He’s in the waiting
Hold onto your hope
As your triumph unfolds
He’s never failing
He’s never failing

And You who hold the stars
Who call them each by name
Will surely keep, Your promise to me
That I will rise, in Your victory
And You who hold the stars
Who call them each by name
Will surely keep, Your promise to me
That I will rise, in Your victory!

So take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He’s in the waiting
He’s in the waiting
And hold onto your hope
Watch your triumph unfold
He’s never failing
He’s never failing

So take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He’s in the waiting
He’s in the waiting
And hold onto your hope
Watch your triumph unfold
He’s never failing
He’s never failing!

He’s in the waiting…

 

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He’s In the Waiting

Posted in GOD, life, Walking with God, WONDER, tagged , , , , , on September 15, 2017| Leave a Comment »

person-waiting_1048-1707

This week seemed to just fly by, filled with work, creating, play family and friends.

It was so full, I simply forgot to write a post yesterday.

So, in lieu of a more typical post here on itsawonderfilledlife, I am going to share a song that I discovered this week, while working on furniture in my garage.

I discovered it, after listening to a song on YouTube, and songs kept playing. As this one played, names of people were laid upon my heart … the woman receiving stem cells, the new teacher with so much to learn in order to teach it, the young woman hoping that she will get the job she interviewed for, the couple hoping to adopt a child, the woman whose dad had suffered a health decline with no indicators as to what is happening, the couple whose adult daughter wants nothing to do with them, the woman who is caring for her dying mother and child with special needs …

SO many people are waiting …

So, if you are waiting, or if someone you love is, I pray that the message of the lyrics of this song, might bring encouragement. You are not alone in the waiting.

“Take Courage”
(click link above for video)
(Kristene DiMarco)

Slow down, take time
Breath in He said
He’d reveal what’s to come
The thoughts in His mind
Always higher than mine
He’ll reveal all to come

Take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He’s in the waiting
He’s in the waiting
Hold onto your hope
As your triumph unfolds
He’s never failing
He’s never failing

Sing praise my soul
Find strength in joy
Let His Words lead you on
Do not forget
His great faithfulness
He’ll finish all He’s begun

So take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He’s in the waiting
He’s in the waiting
Hold onto your hope
As your triumph unfolds
He’s never failing
He’s never failing

Take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He’s in the waiting
He’s in the waiting
Hold onto your hope
As your triumph unfolds
He’s never failing
He’s never failing

And You who hold the stars
Who call them each by name
Will surely keep, Your promise to me
That I will rise, in Your victory
And You who hold the stars
Who call them each by name
Will surely keep, Your promise to me
That I will rise, in Your victory!

So take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He’s in the waiting
He’s in the waiting
And hold onto your hope
Watch your triumph unfold
He’s never failing
He’s never failing

So take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He’s in the waiting
He’s in the waiting
And hold onto your hope
Watch your triumph unfold
He’s never failing
He’s never failing!

He’s in the waiting…

 

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In the Waiting Room

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged , , on January 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »

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Waiting is not something that many of us enjoy.

There is little that we have to actually wait for anymore in our daily lives.

Thanks to computer technology alone, we can read a book, bank at all hours, order dinner, purchase items, make contact with people in our lives, and complete a degree … all wearing our pjs, from our sofa, while watching an entire season of our favourite TV show, from our computers!

Waiting is not something expected in our lives today.

Yet, waiting is still part of the human experience.

We still have to wait nine months for a baby to be fully developed, we still have to wait for the vegetables in our gardens to grow before we reap a harvest, we still have to wait until we are a certain age to drive a vehicle and we still have to wait for our prayers to be answered.

The later is often the longest wait.

Just this past weekend, a woman in our church shared of a dreadfully long wait for her hubby to see a health care specialist. It seemed that each day was too long leading up to the awaited appointment. Each ‘what if’ that could be dreamed was considered. They were certain that if hubby’s health didn’t kill him, waiting to see the specialist would.

Then they finally got to the appointed day. And appointed it was! She shared of how there was connection with this doctor, right down to his office decor. To top it all off, her hubby was given a clean bill of health … the best news they could have imagined.

She shared that, though they felt the waiting would cause further deterioration of his health, in reality the time waiting allowed healing and restoration of his body that only time can heal.

Waiting is hard, and not a chosen venue for any of us, yet there can be blessing in the process of waiting.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us, “for everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth.”

Though the time spent in the waiting room of yet to be answered prayers can be tiring, frustrating and difficult, it may just be that this waiting has purpose. God’s answers are always on time.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
Psalm 27:14

 

 

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Crap or Get off the Can!

Posted in GOD, WONDER, tagged , , , , , on September 20, 2016| Leave a Comment »

I feel as though I spend much of my life waiting … in a line at the grocery store, for someone to come to the dinner table, for a student who processes thoughts slowly, for pay day, for hubby to be ready to leave for vacation, for the weekend or summer break.

Waiting drives me nuts!

We all wait for many things. It is a commonality which we share.

A friend recently told me to “crap or get off the can” (or something similar) in regards to something that I have been waiting for, but keeps passing me by … while I just wait. You see, my problem is that, though I am an aggressive and passionate trouble-shooter, I am also frequently passive when it comes to the desires of my own heart, submitting myself to the ‘safety’ of waiting, rather than taking the risk to pursue the dreams God has placed in my heart.

When my friend spoke pointedly to me, she challenged me that maybe waiting was not what I was called to do, but to jump, trusting that God has my back.

I was secretly frustrated with her challenge, after all, she doesn’t know all of the circumstances and challenges in my life. There was so much fear in jumping! It was so easy for her to say, not so easy for me to do.

Then I read the following verse, from Ecclesiastes 11:4, and it seemed to hold my eyes on it’s message:

“Those who wait for perfect weather will never plant seeds;
those who look at every cloud will never harvest crops.“

The story/parable that Jesus told of the man who left his property with his servants, is an example of what God wants us to do with what he has entrusted to us (Matthew 25:14-30). One of the servants was afraid, so he hid what was given to him. When the man returned, he was livid that this servant had not invested what was given to him to care for.

To leap is to risk failure, but to do nothing with the resources God has given us, is an even greater risk.

What are you waiting for?

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Naked Soul Sandwich

Posted in WONDER, tagged , , , on June 24, 2015| Leave a Comment »

In the deli of life, I am the deli meat.

My parents, they share the middle with me … they are the fixings.

My children, they are one end … one slice of bread.

My grandparents, they are on the other end … the other slice of bread.

As I look at the lifetime of my grandparents, I see a life that was marked by waiting … for everything! If they wanted strawberries, they had to wait for summer. If they wanted to hear a certain song on the radio, they had to wait for it to play (if they even had a radio). If they wanted to purchase something, they had to wait until they had earned the money needed to pay for it. If they wanted to connect with their family members in the ‘old country’ they had to write a letter, mail it, and then wait for their response. If they wanted cut flowers in a vase, they had to wait for them to bloom, and if it was winter, there were no cut flowers.

Waiting was the norm in the lives of my grandparents.

As I look at the lives of my kids, and those of their generation, I see everything and anything as instant.

If they want strawberries, they can drive to a store, pay with a credit or debit card (even if there is no credit available, as there is always overdraft), and be chowing down on their hearts desire in about ten minutes. If my kids want to connect with their cousins on the other end of the country, they send a text, an email. If they want to hear a certain song, they search for it on the web and listen to it.

Waiting has not been the norm in the lives of my kids.

My kids are not alone, and they have missed out on an important understanding, that waiting, or to wait, is a verb … it is an action word. Waiting is not a time of nothing, but a time of preparation, of anticipation.

As a mom of young adults, and one who works in a high school, I have noticed a switch in thinking from the generations before. Those who have been brought up in this society of instant fulfillment, instant gratification, have a gap in their learning, for they have missed the value of waiting.

Disclaimer …
If you are reading this and you think I am simply pointing my finger at a younger generation in that stereotype way that older generations have been known to do, please know that my finger is pointing back at myself (and my generation). We have grown up in the middle of wait and no wait. We have become the generation who needs Weight Watchers, debt consultants, and divorce lawyers … we/I have problems too!

An area that seems to be, frequently, not waited for is intimacy.

This is not unexpected in those who do not profess a faith and life in Christ, but there is a very real shift, among Christians, to just do it.

The good thing is that (unlike my generation, who tried to hide it) this generation is doing it, and are not hiding their actions.

The bad thing is that there is much that is missed by not experiencing the action of waiting.

And this is so NOT just for girls! For guys are missing out too.

Sexual intimacy and relational (that’s the heart type) intimacy involve more than just the body, mind and heart. These forms of intimacy also involve the souls, and are best experienced in a covenantal relationship. A covenantal relationship is one where there is mutual agreement, mutual responsibility. In regards to the covenantal marriage relationship, it is intended to be safe, mutually beneficial, healthy and ended only at death.

Though I am not sure how to turn the tide of Christian singles choosing to not participate in the action of waiting, I do believe we need to somehow convince this generation that vintage is best when it comes to our bodies and souls.

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Move that Bus!

Posted in WONDER, tagged , , , on February 28, 2014| 1 Comment »

keep-calm-and-move-that-bus-1

You know that show, the one where a needy family gets a vacation. While they are having a fun family time away, good ol’ designers, builders and neighbors transform their house into a show home. Then, when they return there is an enormous bus parked between them (and their waiting) and a brand-spanking new home (and a fresh start).

Well, I recently got to experience something similar to the long-awaited call to “move that bus.”

Ever been in a pit?

Ever felt like you cannot even remember if you jumped in, or if you were pushed there?

Ever looked at where you are and wondered aloud, “how did I get in this mess?”

Haven’t we all been in that place!? In that head space? In that season?

As I sat in an auditorium …

As I sat in an auditorium ignoring why I thought I was there …

As I sat in an auditorium distracted immensely, intensely by what wasn’t supposed to matter …

I remembered why.

Just the night before I had audibly said, prayed, uttered the question,

why?

I had no anticipation of a response. Not that night. Not the day to come. Not ever.

It seemed that why was something I said, not asked. It was like an exhale, a natural response to taking in … just something I said, something I did … every day.

My why was yet another cry to “move that bus.”

Are you with me?

Have you been there?

Haven’t we all been there?

And then, as though the details of time and place and people were orchestrated by the hand of God. As though the waiting really was part of the process of leading me to this point. I didn’t care about why, because the film was removed from my eyes and I was reminded of my passion.

I was reminded that I had a passion, a purpose.

I was reminded that God did not create me to survive, but to thrive.

I was reminded that God, the giver of good gifts, gives out of abundance, so that we might use those gifts to glorify Him.

And, without uttering a word,

He moved the bus.

“these things I plan won’t happen right away.
Slowly, steadily, surely,
the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled.
If it seems slow, do not despair,
for these things will surely come to pass.
Just be patient!
They will not be overdue a single day!”
Habakkuk 2:3-4

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Waiting

Posted in WONDER, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 26, 2013| 2 Comments »

images-1I HATE waiting!

Convinced that at some point in my life I must have prayed for patience, and God is now cursing blessing me with regular experiences that will test my patience, I now avoid praying for patience, like the plague!

Within our family there are members who are natural tools in God’s hands to do this in my life. ‘Someone’ regularly makes me wait to leave for school/work in the mornings. ‘Someone’ else makes me wait to return borrowed money. ‘Someone’ else makes me wait to return text messages. And ‘someone’ else makes me wait … for everything!

UGH!

Just recently I thought I would explode if I had to wait much longer for something deeply desired, something I felt I deserved, and yet all indicators were that my only guarantee was that I would need to continue waiting, and that there was a good chance that what I was waiting for might not ever be mine in this life.

Anger and bitterness started to really pervade my thoughts.

“But, I deserve this”

“But, I have followed the rules”

“But, but, but …”

As I was having my pity party I kept hearing in my heart, “what is your purpose in life, Carole? To please Me, or to be pleased by others?”

UGH!

How do I respond with “well to be pleased, of course” to one who sacrificed His Son … for me?

And so I was brought back to my purpose, to not just please, but to live for Christ. To love Him, and to love His creatures … even the ones who make me wait!

So, while I wait, through the seasons that might never end in this life,

“I will serve You
I will worship
I will not fade
I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait
… though it’s not easy …”

“Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.”
Psalm 27:14

images

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Christmas Cookies and a Carol

Posted in christmas, WONDER, tagged , , , , , , on December 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Is there any edible token of the Christmas season that is more common than the sugar cookie, cut out and decorated festively?

The other day was Christmas cookie baking and decorating day. I had made the dough, and icing of various colors.

Only our youngest daughter, and our student from China decided to participate in this event. Our daughter from China was so excited to be making Christmas cookies for the first time. First time experiences create an atmosphere that just makes you want to be around.

Over a period of about two hours, the two girls (plus periodic visiting participants) rolled, cut out, baked and decorated about four dozen cookies. They chatted, giggled, gave each other decorating advice, sang Christmas songs, and compared their creations.

What a beautiful thing to have opportunity to introduce and share in the first experiences of our sweet girl from China. To see her excitedly jumping up and down, awaiting for everything to be ready to make cut out cookies for the first time gave our home a feel of excitement liken to … Christmas.

Christmas is a time of excitement, a time of wonder and anticipation. That is why, at this season, we sing “Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 is where this beautiful, ages old Christmas carol originates. It states, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” And the excitement for the coming Messiah began.

This carol communicates lament, or mourning. And yet, it is a most popular of all hymns of the advent season. A season of anticipation, of wonder of … excitement. What a contrast it is to pair lamenting and anticipation. But, truly we lament, we mourn most productively when we acknowledge that our mourning is for a season, and that God’s providential hand will, indeed, work it all our for the greater good.

And what better good could there be than Emmanuel, the one who came to save. The one that was anticipated, as Israel mourned her loses.

When we sing Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel this season, may we do so with the excitement and anticipation (and wonder) of our young girl from China, who couldn’t wait for the time to make sugar cookies. May we sing with our mouths, and with our hearts, “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.”

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The Great Unknown

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged , , , , , , on November 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Hi, my name is Carole, and I am a control freak. Those who know me well (family, no comment is needed, I am admitting the reality you live with here in print … again Control Freak) this comes as no surprise, and for the rest of you … it comes as no surprise … sigh.

Speaking of surprises, I do not like them. I am not fond of even good, or nice surprises (although if Canada Revenue would like to finish hubby’s tax return and send us a cheque before the end of the year, I could be very fond of that surprise … just sayin’), and I am definitely not fond of bad or negative surprises (like our car driving itself down our driveway and planting itself into our sweet neighbor’s planter … sigh).

What is even worse than surprise, to a control freak, is waiting. Being a control freak and being deficient in patience seem to me to go together perfectly.

I never so keenly notice my undiagnosed ADD as when I am in a place of waiting. If people could see what goes on inside of me while I am waiting in a line at the grocery store, waiting for the end of a boring meeting, waiting for others to get their act together (and do what I want them to do), or waiting for my favorite Wednesday night TV show to come on (Criminal Minds) most would be very surprised at how chaotic and troubled it is in that mind of mine.
I hate having to wait!
When I am in a state of ‘waiting’ then my greatly over-gifted imagination kicks into high gear, and that is not a good thing! I can imagination all sorts of possible problems or curses or other bad things that might happen, because if I am waiting, I am not in control, and if I am not in control, then how can God know what to do next?
Really that is the core of my problem … I seem to think that God needs my help. He doesn’t, He just needs my obedience and my faith in His control of the situation. So, I will do my best today to place the reigns back in His nail scarred hands.

“Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name;  you are mine.

I have loved you with an everlasting love…I hold you in the palm of my hands.

In my sight you are precious…do not be afraid I am with you.”  Says the Lord God

Isaiah 43, 1-4

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Drinking in Their Scent

Posted in Love, The Hubby, The Kids, WONDER, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2011| 3 Comments »

I have experience the longest four weeks of my life, with hubby, our son, and youngest daughter away on an adventure! The feeling has been similar to the expectancy of the birth of a baby, or the waiting for your wedding day! And, with all three of these times of waiting, they culminate with embracing, words of love and drinking in their scent, which you know so intimately as belonging to someone who is yours.

Kind of like … dogs. You know, you take your beast for a walk, and are walking towards another person and their beast. Both people say ‘hi’, and the beasts … well they go for the sniff and lick … seriously, THAT is something I can’t wait to get to heaven and ask God that most theological of questions … ‘why do dogs sniff each other’s butts?’ But I digress.

But really, the familiarity of a scent, that is the evidence of an intimate relationship.

To inhale their scent, that, to a mom, says they are mine. I remember one other time when hubby was away, and, on the phone I told him that I missed his scent. His response was to pass gas, so I could at least hear it … we are so from two very different planets! Believe me, there are some scents that, as a woman, I could never miss! (I know this is a universal woman thing too … a few weeks back, my daughter says, ‘Mom, I so miss having girls with me … my brother had a chili dog today … and I’m confined to the car with the effects of it!’).

bad smell

We may know many people, and we might even know their cologne, or perfume, or hand lotion, or even soap, but to know their individual scent … your relationship has to be closer, more physical, more intimate.

When I go to the East Coast to visit my family, it is not just my mother’s embrace that holds me to her, but her familiar scent. I cannot imagine anything forcing the memory of the scent of my mom from my mind.

I am sure I could be blindfolded, and still be able to identify those most intimately connected to me, by sniffing their necks (okay, it would also be easy to identify hubby, as his is covered with whiskers).

Now, don’t get me wrong, we are not just sitting around sniffing each other. We will talk, we will hug (we are ‘huggers’), we will play, we will travel, we will see sights, we will go to the beach (I wonder if the South East Beach smells like a North East beach? I swear I can still be one hundred miles from the East Coast, and I can smell it … home). But those first moments, those first hours together, it is our sense of smell that was and will be most keenly reunited.

“Everyday, you make me smile.
Everyday, you make me glad to be a mother.
Everyday, you make a memory I’ll never want to forget.
Everyday, I’m more thankful than the day before that you are my little boy/girl.
Everyday, I smell your hair and touch your skin
and wonder
how I ever lived my life without you.
Everyday.”
Unknown Author

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