Posts Tagged With: wait

Stay for Today (Five Minute Friday)

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Sharita

Happy Friday, peeps.

It’s time for Five-Minute Friday with our link-up friend Lisa-Jo Baker. 

(For those of you who might be new ’round these parts, on Friday’s Lisa gives us a one-word prompt, then we write for– yep, you guessed it– five minutes. No over thinking. No editing.)

Five Minute Friday

Today’s prompt: STAY

And GO!

******

From elementary games on the school yard to timed tests in high school and leadership activities as an adult… The word GO seems to have so much power over our lives.

Funny thing is, while I have heard the phrase “Ready, set, GO!” a million times in my life, rarely have I heard “Ready, set… STAY!”

Seems kind of anticlimactic, huh? Perhaps that’s why so many people struggle with staying put and waiting… Even when God tells us to.

We are goers. Doers. Movers. Shakers. I’ve never described myself as a “stay-er.” But sometimes that’s just the thing that God wants us to do out of obedience to Him.

And it can be stinking difficult.

To paraphrase Henry Blackaby (hey, I’m on the clock and can’t remember the exact quote :-) ) “Waiting is one of the hardest and most important things we will ever do as a Christian.”

Can I get an amen?!?!

Staying put and waiting on the Lord can be super difficult. But also super rewarding.

When we act out of obedience and STAY, we can be recharged in His presence. We can be confident that He is preparing the way for us. We can rest. We can pray. We can trust. We can expectantly wait on what He has around the next bend.

So, in this very moment, let’s not worry about what is supposed to happen later this afternoon or tomorrow or next week, month or year. Perhaps, God is calling you to a challenge with rewards unimaginable– just for today, we stay. With Him. For Him. Abiding in Him.

STOP!

*****

Do you struggle with waiting and staying put sometimes? What is the hardest part? Or perhaps you have mastered the art of waiting on Him? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below. (Oh. And if you are super motivated, check out Monday’s post here for our giveaway that is going on for a few more days!)

As usual– thank a bajillion for stopping by! Every view and comment blesses me in ways you can’t imagine.

Have a fantabulous weekend!

For today I stay,
SGK

“Stay with GOD! Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: Stay with GOD.” ~Psalm 27:14 (MSG)  

Categories: Five Minute Friday | Tags: , , , , , | 10 Comments

In Ready Position

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Sharita

I never really liked gym class. No offense to any gym teachers out there, but I rarely looked forward to gym, especially during that middle school phase…

Each day when I was down in the musty locker room changing my clothes, my heart would start to pound as I thought about what activity awaited me at the top of the stairs. One of the most dreaded gym sessions of the year? Basketball.

To this day, I still can’t do a lay-up with good form or dribble down the court without “traveling.” It’s not that I didn’t try– I just was never very good. I was THAT kid– you know the one– the kid that always got hit in the face with the ball. (Don’t believe me? I once got my lip split open by a ping pong ball. My face naturally attracted flying objects. It’s science.)

In all of my basketball gym class days, I will say I learned one thing that sticks with me to this day: How to be in “ready position.” Feet a little wider than shoulder distance apart, knees bent, hands up… As the girl who always got hit in the face, I was more than willing to perfect any technique that might help me 1) Move quickly out of the way of a flying object or 2) Deflect said flying object from my middle school mug.

This concept of being in “ready position” extends beyond the sports world. The military is a prime example. They are trained to move into action within a moment’s notice. My beloved husband has not taken this lightly and insist on carrying into all aspects of his life. He always tries to engage in combat parking (backing into a parking spot to be ready to move quickly) at all restaurants or shopping areas, even though I convince him the likelihood of needing to evacuate quickly is minimal. My beloved even takes this “ready position” so far to include his ice cream eating habits.

Ready for anything-- even for ice cream eating, spoon in the freezer and all.

Yep, that is an actual picture of his favorite ice cream in the freezer… In “ready position” waiting to be consumed… spoon poised and all.

I love the man. I really do.

While my husband’s “ready position” habits might seem a bit extreme, I can’t help but wonder if he doesn’t kind of have the right idea, especially when it comes to our walk with Christ.  Are we in ready position to give and receive Jesus?

Are we poised, eyes peeled, heart up, looking for  ways to share Jesus around every corner? Would we be ready if He showed up tomorrow or would He hit us in the face because we are unaware of His presence?

How do you stay in touch with Christ? What does your ready position look like? Feel free to leave a comment here.

I *try* to be constantly aware of Christ. Sure, I get distracted when I see something shiny, but I am always attempting to get better at sharing Jesus and receiving what He has to offer. From blogging daily to working on my 1000 gift list to praying for those around me, I feel more ready for Jesus than I ever did while playing midde school basketball. (Or ping pong.)

So today, I challenge you to be light on your feet, bend your knees, get your hands up, eyes open and heart prepared– let’s stay in ready position for Jesus.

Ready and waiting,
SGK

“You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End.” –John 6:44 (MSG)

Categories: childhood, Christ, God, husband, Jesus, lessons, life, patience | Tags: , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Worth Waiting For

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Sharita

Tick…………….

                           Tock…………..

                                                   Tick…………….

                                                                        Tock…………..

Waiting. UG. It ranks right up there with “Going to the Dentist” and “Cleaning the Bathroom” on my list of Fun Things to Do. But waiting is SUCH a big part of our world, whether you are waiting for them to call your number at the DMV or waiting for God to give you an answer on what you are supposed to do.

I’ve always heard that “A watched pot doesn’t boil.” I think a watched pot does boil (I mean, we can only change basic science for the sake of proverbial wisdom so much) but it does seem to take FOREVER when we are staring at it. UGGGG… HURRY… UP!

But here’s the thing with waiting… It is a good thing. It helps us to enjoy the time we are in, reveling in God’s goodness. In HIS timing. For a society that has been conditioned to receive things instantly, this can be a challenge. A serious, annoying, hurry-up-or-I’m-gonna-start-twitching kind of challenge.

God makes us wait for a reason. Yes, it makes us stronger. Yes, it helps us to enjoy that moment even more when it finally arrives. But even more so, it requires us to deeply depend on Him.

Some things get better with time… I personally believe homemade macaroni and cheese is better the next day. It is thicker, richer, and to my taste buds, much yummier. Wine gets sweeter with time. And don’t even get me started on how awesome chocolate avocado mousse is after a day or so in the fridge. (I’m making myself hungry. Dang.)

Waiting for an answer isn’t easy. But it is necessary. My husband  and I are currently in the midst of a shoulder-shrugging “What-do-we-do-what-choice-does-God-want-us-to-make” match. We’ve debated options about a variety of life topics, thinking that we could talk ourselves into a feasible answer.

Yesterday morning, my husband came home to grab his dress uniform while I was in the middle of my quiet time with Jesus. It was a good thing I was sitting down because God knocked my socks off. He had given me an answer to all of our questions we had lately.

I excitedly announced this information to my beloved upon his entrance into the house. “GOD TOLD ME THE ANSWER!! I KNOW WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO!!”

He immediately poised himself for the profoundness that he expected to come out of my mouth. See, my husband is a very black and white kind of dude. (I guess probably because he IS a dude. Men are kind of  like that, I’ve noticed.) I took a deep breath and proceeded with the announcement that would change both of our lives…

“God said to wait on Him.”

My husbands shoulders fell a bit. So much for the black and white answer we were both hoping for, right? Surprisingly, I was relieved to know that it was OK for us to just chill out. We had been trying to find the “best” answer ourselves and it was wearing us down. After a few moments, Brandon perked up,  hugged me and replied, “Ok, then my lover… We wait on the Lord… Together”

Talk about a moment worth waiting for.

Waiting in His Presence,

SGK

“I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” –Lamentations 3:24

Categories: faith, God, patience, trust | Tags: , , , , , | 3 Comments

No Bull Rule

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Sharita

Sometimes profound revelations come from the most unexpected places.

Like over a plate of lasagna, caprese and chocolate avocado mousse. (Not mixed together of course.)

Last week, I was having supper with my friend Kim. For those of you who have met Kim, you know she is 1) Hilarious 2) Nearly as loud and excitable as me <which is a feat in itself> and 3) Sings like Martina McBride. For those of you who don’t know her… now you do. Ish.

Anywho, we were having a deeply profound (ok, rather squirrelly and passionate) discussion over an amazing meal in my living room. We covered topics including Georgia culture, army logistics, and quantum physics. (Ok, maybe we only talked about a couple of those.)

Soon the conversation moved to life and Jesus. As aforementioned, we are both easily excited… and needless to say, these two topics fire us up. We began to rapidly talk about those “life moments” when you are kind of in a waiting or holding period. Just praying and twiddling your thumbs, asking God for answers on what decision to make or what to do next… But He seems to remain silent.

“People always tell me to just buck up and make a decision while I am waiting,” Kim said. “They say to just ‘take the bull by the horns, but it is really hard to take the bull by the horns…’”

“WHEN THERE IS NO BULL!!” (We said this last part in unison. It would have been awkward. Except we are cool. So we giggled and chalked it us up to being on the same squirrelly wavelength.)

So yeah… but how in the name of chocolate avocado mousse are we supposed to take the bull by the horns when there seems to be no bull to begin with? We have to live by the No Bull Rule.

The No Bull Rule is a weird and sometimes challenging combination of patience, listening, perseverance and faith. It’s that time in life when God isn’t telling us a clear answer for some reason… so we have to be patient and wait for Him to say GO before we act.

I don’t know about you, but in the past, I have been guilty of creating a “bull” when there is none. I talk myself into making a decision that is not ordained by God. I create this bull, take it by the horns… then soon find myself bucked off, trampled, smooshed into the ground,  and limping back to the gate to start my over.

Our God is a God we can trust– with EVERYTHING. From family decisions, to career choices, to church activities and even subjects to blog about. When we try to force a decision upon ourselves, we violate the “No Bull Rule” and usually things end up in a big ol’ pile of bull… manure.

So if you are in that awkward waiting period, live by the No Bull Rule. God hasn’t given you a bull to take by the horns yet, so just pull up a chair, sit, wait and listen. When it’s time to act, God will give you the signal to take the correct bull by the horns and make it happen for His glory.

And when He does give you the right steps to take, act knowing that the guidance He is giving you is true, trustworthy and genuine. Because when it comes to God’s faithfulness, THAT my friends, is No Bull.

That’s no bull-oney,

SGK

“Wait, Israel, for God. Wait with hope. Hope now; hope always!” –Psalm 131:3

Categories: be still, faith, God, hurry, listen, living, patience, trust | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

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