Wait.

Ugh. Really God? Wait? Why can't you just tell me now? I've felt like that a lot! When I ask God about something I want to know it now, but I've learned that's not how He works! During the long time of waiting I wrote about in my last post, God spoke to me. He brought a picture of a prayer maze to my mind and spoke these words to my heart. "It's not about the answers, it's about the journey it takes to get there."

Think about it, in a prayer maze you don't just walk right to the middle, you follow the trail and pray along the way. That's how we grow with God, we follow Him and are in communication with Him, and the longer it takes you to get there the more things you can see and experience. Waiting has strengthened my faith more than I could have imagined! Waiting has made me trust God more and lean on Him for everything, and when He brought the answers, it's made me realize that God's plans are far greater than I what I could come up with, and that makes me want to follow Him so much more!

So if you are in a season of waiting or just waiting on some little things, take heart! Know that God will answer and He is always right beside you knowing the perfect time to reveal His plan to you.

Jeremiah 29:11-14; For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.

Psalm 27: 14; Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Here is a song that I love, "Wait" by Fike (If you want to hear just the song skip to about 1:30)

This is my story.

So I thought I'd let you readers get to know me better by sharing my testimony, so here we go! :)

I was raised in a Christian home, I was homeschooled so all my friends were from church, and my parents always pointed me toward Christ but never forced anything on me. Then when I was 8 I was listening to a cd, and at the end of the last song they recited the "Christian ABC's" (Most of you know what I mean!) "A. Admit you are a sinner and that you need a Savior. B. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord. C. Confess your sins, and commit your life to Him." Then they added one more letter that really spoke to my heart. "And D. Don't wait until tomorrow." Because not one of us is ever guaranteed tomorrow! So I opened my heart to Christ, and asked for forgiveness for my sins. Later that year I was baptized. Looking back now I know that was a God-think, because I'd always stopped the song before they said the ABCs, but for some reason (God :)) that day I let it play until the end.

A few years later (I think I was 11 or 12), through sermons at church and God at work in me, I began to realize that I welcomed God in but didn't let Him change me, I was living the same way I was before I opened my heart. So I began to pray more and more, read my bible, and I fully surrendered my life to Him and His will. I told Him "God you're in charge of my future, I'll do whatever You want me to do."

Around that time a new Christian band came out made up of three young woman who were strong crusaders of modesty but still being fashionable, giving God full control of your life, and praying for your future husband. So as a young girl I totally looked up to them, I thought they were so cool!  So I began to pray for my future husband too. It started out as short prayers before I went to bed every now and then, but one day when I was at church out of nowhere "Future husband" popped into my head, and I had "butterflies" and my heart started beating faster, and before I had a chance to think, I started praying "God fight for him" over and over and over. So I wrote it down in a notebook (and still do! :)), and over the years I've gotten more and more prayer requests for him from God, and I'm really excited to see how God used me to fight for my future husband before we've met!

When I was 17 a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Children At Risk team came and shared at my church. The stories and faces of the children pulled on my heart like nothing ever had. They gave us prayer cards for two little girls to pray for, because their parents took them out of the safe children's home and back into prostitution. So I began to pray for them and I still do today. When I was a freshman a youth pastor told me that she believed God was calling me to missions, and my mom did too. So I began to pray and seek God, but I wasn't hearing anything, so I started asking other people to pray for me and everyone was getting words like "not yet" and "just wait". So I did, and let me tell you it was the hardest thing I'd ever done! I kind of felt like God had left me, then one day I was lying face down on the floor searching for answers and crying out to God, then I felt two hands tough my sides! No one was there, I believe it was God reasuring me that He has never left my side and never will. Over my time of waiting and all my 4 years of high school God has placed wonderful woman of God in my life to mentor and guide me, I'm so grateful He did! Then then next year I felt a stirring that wouldn't go away and the things from YWAM kept coming to me, Then the song Let The Waters Rise by Mikeschair came on and I just knew I need to do this, and I felt such a peace. So I will be doing YWAM Children At Risk in September! ♥

I'm still falling more in love with God all the time, and growing more in my faith! He's opening my eyes more and more through songs, books (Radical is amazing!! You should really read it!), reading the bible, people around me, prayer, and when He speaks His truths and love to my heart. I still have worries, fears and problems, but I face them with strength from God every day. Right now some of my favorite songs are Well Done by Moriah Peters, Ready Or Not by Britt Nicole, You Lead by Jamie Grace and Give Me Faith by Elevation Worship.

But that is not the end of my story, this is just the beginning...

Alive!

The other day I was driving home from work and this song came on the radio, I'd heard it before and thought it was a good song but nothing more, but I believe God really wanted to open my ears to this song and speak to my heart to remind me how much He loves me. It literally brought me to tears. (Don't worry, I got home safely :))

I always know and believe that He loves me more than I can imagine, but sometimes I forget really how much.