The Same World

My heart breaks for Boston. (in the same way as my heart breaks for schools shootings and wars and other broken messes). My heart breaks for the murdered babies and mistreated women at Gosnell's house of horrors (another post entirely....)

I am a runner...not a fast one -- and not a current one (I've taken a break in training due to wedding, moving, finding a job) It sickens me to think that these men and women were meeting goals and challenging themselves and in some small way, doing what America has always stood for -- the betterment of one's self...and this is what happens. 

War and death and shootings and murder are always sad, but they are especially sad when they occur in places they shouldn't -- elementary schools, sporting events, churches, etc.  I think its quite intentional that those who commit these acts aim for these targets. Not only are these places easy targets, but they are snapshots of a happy all american life. 

It seems that the world is getting more and more evil, doesn't it.  But then again, it isn't getting more evil.  It's been evil since sin entered the world, and although we are all so very capable of good things, we are capable of evil.  This world is full of sin and evil.

It's the same world it always was -- a world with gas chambers, abortion, school shootings, wars, starvation, rape, illness, genocide, slavery.

But, its the same world it always was - a world where runners finish the race and run straight to hospitals to donate blood, where missionaries smuggle bibles into countries, where families hide Jews in their homes, where teachers give their lives for their students.

This world has a lot of good, but let us not be so surprised by the evil. Thankfully, we have a Savior that came to redeem and restore a lost and broken world.

As the author of the previously linked post said....

"And I don’t really know what to say.
Except that the world ain’t coming to nothin’. It’s the same as it ever was.
It’s a place filled with people whose every intention is only evil continually. It’s in need of a Savior. In need of redemption. And restoration. And desperate deliverance. Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus, come."

Yes, come Lord Jesus, come.

New Mercies on Rough Days

My heart aches for a dear friend this week as she faces trials I would never want to face.  I spent last year watching a family member suffer.  And, obviously, like the rest of the world, I, too, have felt my own share of pain before and know that it is inevitable that more pain will come my way is this fallen broken world.

Thankfully, by God's grace, not only are we guaranteed pain along the way, but also God's new mercies, daily.  And, not to be unreligious, but sometimes people focus on the eternal mercies -- salvation, forgiveness, grace, justification, adoption, etc....which is wonderful, and more than enough, but sometimes, you want to ask, "What about some comfort and mercy here, for my earthly body, with my earthly emotions, NOW?"  We are earthly  beings and the reality of forever with our Savior may provide a great hope, but as far as the pain and suffering today, it seems to be a light at the end of a very long tunnel.

That's why I am so greatful for God's new mercies each morning.  I believe, in horrible times -- deaths, divorces, illnesses, etc, that God is gracious to give us good moments in bad times.  Laughter with friends.  A fun family dinner.  An encouraging email. A good movie. A night of uninterrupted sleep.  A book to escape. A good glass of wine.  Putting on a new dress and feeling like a million bucks.  A verse that hits at the heart.  Hearing your favorite song on the radio. Flowers. Sunsets. Perfect Weather. Good news amidst all the bad.

During some of my worst times, I had some really good moments....which is why life can't only be lived in time frames of months, seasons, years, even days, but must be lived in moments.  Obviously our Lord understood that, obviously he knew that each day, we might need His mercies to get through the day.  Bright spots among the darkness, not just the light at the end of the tunnel.

I often find myself at the end of a bad day, praying for new mercies the next day, and being so greatful that a day comes to an end and a new one starts.

You may have many rough days ahead.  Even if not at this point, you will have bad days sometime in the future.  Know that God has provided salvation from our sin and eternity without pain and in His presence. But, also know that he provides good moments throughout your rough days.  And when today seems unbearable, know that when you put your head on your pillow tonight, God will be providing new mercies the next day!! 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an

end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

LAMENTAIONS 3:22-23

What I am reading Wednesday (Dec 5 2012)

Here are some encouraging articles I had to share....

(1) 13 Scriptures to Meditate on when your future is uncertain.  Um, who doesnt need this at some point in their life?

(2) 12 Promises every parent should ask God to fulfill.

(3) You don't have to like what's happening to you...

(4) The beauty of faithful Suffering

"Does it matter how we walk in the face of suffering? The Bible makes unapologetic claims about how we should face suffering: "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is reve...aled" (1 Pet. 4:13). Allowing us to experience the brokenness of this world keeps us thirsty for the next. The reality of death forces us to consider carefully how we live. Only by believing that a better home awaits can we experience any sort of light in this land of shadows."

(5)  An article about how a man's spiritual leadership isn't an exact formula....this really challenged me a lot!

(6)  When addressing singleness, women need more than just a "to do" checklist as this article, How Not to Help all the Single Ladies, points out.  I love how the author talked about singleness, particularly in women, being a real heartache. (nothing irritates me more than when its downplayed)  The author suggests that with the reality of more Christian women than men, we need to offer single Christian ladies real support and encouragement, not just books that tell you how to fix yourself and get a man (although I am all for practical attempts at improving yourself and your dating life) -- sometimes doing everything to "fix" yourself and still remaining single makes you feel really inadequate.  The reality is the church can't fix permenant or prolonged singleness for everyone (although I am supportive of church member's attempts to set people up and encourage dating!), but the church can offer support, love and fellowship to those who are single.

I actually had a few other great articles, so there may have to be a second installment to this week's list!

What I am reading Wednesday

1. I love this article on "The pain of Childbearing" (mothering). Favorite line: "I cannot raise my children to be safe, but I can raise them to be strong."  I think thats true of my siblings and me...we were raised to be strong in a world that isn't safe.  I suppose the best you can do for your kids is to first teach them the gospel daily and second, teach them how to live in this world -- strength, kindness, endurance, etc.

2. I love Mississippi.  One of the poorest states but one of the most generous.  When people hate on my state, I get so angry. You don't even know how great this place is, how people come together for good causes, how you get invited to peoples homes and how you are taken care of.  Mississippi is a special place, but go ahead and hate on it: we will keep it "our litte secret" and keep awful haters out.


3. This article talks about trials and their purpose.

And it is why Peter is able to say, with a straight face, that you should “rejoice” in trial (1 Peter 1:6).This doesn’t mean it’s fun to be in a trial. It only means that the cognizance of what the trial really is in the spiritual realm (an opportunity for faith to prove itself) is the “joy set before you” (see Hebrews 12:2) that will make the trial bearable and will motivate you to keep clinging to God and keep obeying. Jesus had to live life the same way, and He set us an example. So whenever you feel that grumbling in the tummy, or you are caught in another trial, tell yourself, like Linda did: “Good. This means something good is happening.” It is having “the mind of Christ.”


4. We all have walked through a desert before.  A desert can be used for God's purposes.

What I am Reading Wednesday 7-25-2012

1. When I am waiting, I often ask Why doesn't God Hurry Up?  If you are waiting, read this ;)


2.  I think most of us could benefit from learning the 7 ways to develop Humility.


3.  When we face trials in life, we can Sink or Fight.  I LOVE how the author quotes this verse:


Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Psalm 42:11


Then the author says: 


“I shall again praise him” is a statement of faith. We are saying we believe God will come through for us down the road. That in the future Jesus will give us something to praise him about. That God will cause whatever we’re going through to work for good.


4.  When whining about a hardship in my life, my roomie once told me "well sanctification isn't supposed to be fun!"  Its true, when we think God is being a drill sergeant, He is actually our physician.


5.  As a lawyer and more importantly as a female, I agree with this author in her thesis that words have hurtful or helpful effects on us.


6.  I now want to read this book, A Gospel Primer, especially the portion that says:


"The gospel is the one great permanent circumstance in which I live and move; and every hardship in my life is allowed by God only because it serves his gospel purposes in me. When I view my circumstances in this light, I realize that the gospel is not just one piece of good news that fits into my life somewhere among all the bad. I realize instead that the gospel makes genuinely good news out of every other aspect of my life, including my severest trials."

Things I liked on FB today

When I get to heaven I’m gonna go find Job

I want to ask a few hard questions, I want to know what he knows

About what it is he wanted and what he got instead
How to be broken and faithful. -Sara Groves

 



Worse before it gets better

Thanks to my sister, I NOW have a wonderfully organized closet. (way too ADD = very few organizational skills; ironically enough I get annoyed when my roomies leave bowls of cereal milk in the sink  but I can handle a pile of clothes on my bedroom chair, to each his own, right??)

Before my sister came over, I made sure that all my clothes were hanging (some had been in a pile, as I said....) and I pulled most of my mismatched shoes out and put them in a basket.  So it already started out on a fairly decent level of messiness/lack thereof...  we weren't started with piles of clothes....we were starting on a fairly solid foundation.

And you know what the first thing she did?? Pull a LOT of my clothes out and put them in piles -- suits, dresses, cocktail attire, sweaters, etc...  Piles of what I needed to get rid of, what I would put back in the closet, what I was taking home to my mom (bc it was her clothing item to begin with), clothes I did not want anymore by my sister wanted....tons of piles.

If you looked at my closet and hallway mid-organize, it was overwhelming, completely stressful.  I was thinking HOW does this look so bad, earlier I had it in a decent, much better condition?  She just made it worse! This will take us 2 whole days to finish!!!

I couldn't see the ending very well...of course all of you very organized people know the ending to this story: sometimes there has to be a bigger mess to get to the beautiful end result.  And that's what happened-- a lot of messiness THEN a lovely organized closet --color coordinated too!!.  Hmmm, sounds a lot like life!

Sometimes we think that we are doing a decent job with our lives.  Things could be worse...sure I gossip, I have mean thoughts, I place a high value on worldly things, I occasionally drink too much or have lustful thoughts, etc etc...but I could be a LOT worse.  and my relationship with God is OK...I go to church, I sometimes go to sunday school, I pray....and few things are going wrong.  Then life falls apart, and its like God takes our decent life -- the one we think we have together -- and makes it even messier for awhile.  He pulls out are fairly clean closet and throws the clothes on the floor.  And we sit there stunned...and overwhelmed, and confused at how His involvement is making things any better, instead things are worse.

Then slowly but surely, the clothes get hung up CORRECTLY.  God starts putting life back together in a more glorious way, but not without making us throw a few piles of junk away first.  Not without a few moments of looking at Him and saying I don't know what to do (which I am pretty sure I said to Marley last night...)

Sometimes Life gets a lot messier before its good again...its just God reorginizing!

Suffering

I have been a HORRIBLE blogger.

Part of this is business...my nephew is home (and his mom and dad). I have work, travel obligations, etc, etc...YET some people are excellent at blogging. 

Recently I have been thinking about suffering.  The sermon at my parents' church this wkd was on the first portion of the first chapter of James...a chapter we are all familiar with, because it seems to be a go to chapter when times are tough.

Suffering makes us stronger. It builds perserverance. It develops character and faith and all those lovely things. yada yada yada....

You always hear that and you know its true, but it does stink to hear.  And sometimes I hold on to that encouragement with a death grip and sometimes I let it slip through my ears, because knowing it will make me better doesn't always provide comfort in the midst of it.  Just being honest. Doesn't make it any less true, and 75% of the time, I take JOY in knowing that my suffering or others' suffering can be used for God's glory and my growth.

HOWEVER something stuck out to me during the sermon...something I have heard before, but no one wants to focus on. SUFFERING SHOULD NOT SURPRISE OR SHOCK US. We should expect it, but it always knocks us on our feet, like death or cancer or heartbreak or failure should not be affecting us...wooaa, sorrow, where did you come from?  I think that this idea is from the notion that we "earn" good times.  Of course, if we are prodigal sons, we should not feel surprised when bad times come our way, afterall, we would have earned it. But, I feel I am a decent human being, loves God and others, so life should go easilly.  THEN rough times hit and I literally have to pick myself off the floor.  I am so surprised when bad things happened.

But, if my Savior, who was blameless, suffered, then I, a product of a fallen world, should expect suffering too.

I have to say, one thing I have noticed about myself (and about people much older than me) is that as each year passes, each bit of suffering shocks me less. There is a knowledge of God's faithfulness to pull me through because I have seen it before.  I know who will provide and sustain because I have lived it.

And thats the encouragement for suffering: not only will God use it for His glory and your good, but He will get you through the times when you don't think you will get through.

Let's not live our lives expecting heartache, but knowing it can come at any minute...not in fear, but in gratefullness for the times that we aren't experiancing pain. (After all, in a fallen world, it would be fair of God to only give us pain daily.) 

Anyways, nothing that substantial today, except that I wanted to share that tidbit.

What I am reading Wednes.., I mean Friday

I have been an awful blogger. I will get back to it soon. Until then, a late post on some good articles....

(1) I loved this one: Today was supposed to be my Wedding Day.

This author wrote the article for the Gospel Coalition on the day she was supposed to get married after she and her fiance ended their engagement. I loved the author's words...

"Marriage and family are still the two things I want most in life, but I know that they're in God's control---not mine.... Now, I find fulfillment in God. He is my rock, the one who deserves my love and attention. While it is a daily struggle to trust him with the things I care about so deeply, he has proven that he's looking out for me. I leave my future in his hands."

She certainly has a more mature view of the situation than I did at the time, though I suspect I knew these things to be tue.  I also suspect she has many ups and downs and many days of doubt ahead of her so I keep her and hear aching heart in my prayers.  But what a true statement for anything we go through. Just change the words to say " A healthy marriage is what I want most..." or "A fulfilling career or ministry is what I want most" or "Remission from cancer is what I want most".... Leaving our future in His hands is both the scariest thing (for control freaks like myself) and most comforting thing (oh you mean I dont have to solve this??) we do.

(2) It is no secret that I love this blog by Fabs Harford because I am constantly attaching her articles to my own blog.  I loved this week's blog on being satisfied/being ok.

"This is the Gospel: our confession that we are helpless apart from His intervention. The irony of our desire for things to be okay is that ultimately - things will only turn out okay for those who have the grace to know that they need God ...to make things okay. Things will not turn out okay for those who persist in seeking to climb their way to an eternal ‘okay’.


Every time you feel your desire for everything to turn out for your good tempt you to control or manipulate or plan, instead let that longing lead you to ask God for help. He promises that He will work every single detail of every single minute of every single day for our good if we’re in Christ.

Every moment is happening – not in spite of God’s promise to make everything turn out okay – but because of His promise that He will work everything for my good."
 
(3) Choose Joy.
 
We must choose joy. We must, if necessary, say out loud to ourselves and to God that we will rejoice in Him today.


THIS ARTICLE REMINDED ME THAT I HAVE NOT DONE MY THANKFULNESS LIST RECENTLY. TIME TO DO THAT SOON.

(4) When all you can see is how bad things are.....

Quote

“Our brokenness also reveals something about who we are.  Our sufferings and pains are not simply bothersome interruptions of our lives;  rather they touch us in our uniqueness and our most intimate individuality.  The way I am broken tells you something unique about me.  The way you are broken tells me something unique about you. That is the reason for my feeling very privileged when you freely share some of your deep pain with me, and that is why it is an expression of my trust in you when I disclose to you something of my vulnerable side.”


 Henri Nouwen

Beautiful

Saw this on a friend's facebook and thought I would share....

Gratefulness/Brokeness to Beauty

Brokeness to Beauty is probably the reoccuring theme in my life.  I look at pain I've gone through and even worse pain that so many close to me have experianced and often wonder if the Lord can redeem that.  I think the problem is that He does redeem and restore, but we have a hard time accepting an idea of good that is different from what we once knew or what we thought would happen.

Example: Even if I met Mr Right tomorrow and got married 6 months from now, I think I am still going to be frustrated that I went through a broken engagement, that my life took awhile to work out, that I had to wait.  I had a picture in my head of how it would work out (and a picture that came not from my own preconcieved notions, but from what was my reality for awhile) -- that I might have a hard time accepting a wonderful blessing that comes in a form or timeline I did not want.

I think the same can be said for those who have waited for Children or to buy a home or to finally get into the job/ministry/missions they wanted. Or waited for healing from physical pain...When we get to the blessing, how do we not let the years of waiting hurt us, color our views, make us bitter? My biggest struggle and fear is to not let myself get frustrated at God when his blessings come on His timeline not mine.  I should just be grateful the blessings come, but I can't help but think what were the years of waiting for???

And I know I am not alone in this.  Thats why I loved this blog post about bruises leading to beauty and this blog post about what God means for good.

maybe the problem is that we already have an idea of what life is supposed to be. What I think is best is not necessarilly whats best.  And maybe what needs to be adjusted isn't God's timeline but my idea of what's good (and everyone else's idea of what's good)  I would hate to miss the learning along the way and more importantly, I would hate to miss the joy of His blessings when they come because I am still arguing with Him about His timeline.

So my current goal in life is to stop having such a preconceived notion of when things have to happen, to start seeing the purpose of waiting, to enjoy my blessings now and to just appreciate the blessings when they come, rather than be angry they didn't happen earlier.

I am considering doing that 1000 gifts gratefulness list thing, but I haven't read the book yet.  However I get the concept. It makes sense. We all struggle with wishing for certain blessings and wishing they came on our timeline that we often miss the small blessings each day.  I'd like to start counting.  I think my time wouldn't feel like waiting always if I noticed what the Lord was doing now, not what I wish he had done now.

anyone do a gratefulness list?? Tell me about it. I'm dying to know and excited to start counting my blessings.  I want to see how even the bad things are used by God and how even small blessings saturate my daily life.

what i am reading wednesday

Love and Marriage: Luther Style: an interesting article about Luther and his wife, their commitment, then their growing romance

Blessed are those who get more: suffering that is.

CS Lewis on the dangers of love

Get out of your comfort zone.

A letter to singles on valentines day....

Scotty Smith

Scotty Smith is a preacher in Nashville. I follow him on facebook and he always posts good quotes.  The past few have really hit home. I thought I would share!


"God is at peace in himself, and in his presence there is peace. The most repeated negative command in Scripture is ‘fear not.’ It appears 365 times — one for each day of the year — and is usually followed by ‘for I am with you.’ God would have us understand that factoring in his presence always changes the equation." - Ramon Presson, "When Will My Life Not Suck? "


“It is a safe thing to trust Him to fulfill the desires which He creates”  - Amy Carmichael


"Self-pity is a death that has no resurrection, a sinkhole from which no rescuing hand can drag you because you have chosen to sink." - Elizabeth Elliot


“When you love someone, you love the person as they are, and not as you'd like them to be.” - Leo Tolstoy


"Never underestimate the capacity you have to harm someone's heart, and Jesus' capacity to heal a heart, including yours" - Scotty Smith


"You can't test courage cautiously". - Annie Dillard


“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart." - Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment


"God doesn't give us second chances; he give us Jesus. His name is Redeemer, not Re-do." - Scotty Smith


‎"God has a plan to help bring justice to the world -- and his plan is us." - Gary Haugen, founder of International Justice Mission


Just some encouraging words for tonight!

Immanuel (God with us) and what it means now

Feeling a bit discouraged this holiday season? (or anytime of the year?) Check out this article on Immanuel

I read it last year and I read it throughout the year but especially at Christmas on moments when I forget how much the Lord must love us to send his son.  Our Lord knows suffering and he is there with us in our suffering.  I tend to focus on Christ's second advent and how it affects me eternally --- Christ's return will usher in an eternity with Him.  But, I should also focus on how Christ's first advent affects me in the here and now.  How while we live on this earth, suffering fear, abandonment, grief, anger, heartache, we have a Savior who understands.... and hurts with us...because He was one of us....

an excerpt from that article....

"We can begin to assume that God isn’t interested in the light and momentary affliction we face.  We tell ourselves that He is not the kind of God that would be concerned with the details of our suffering.

And we would be wrong.

Jesus – in whom the fullness of God is pleased to dwell – wrapped Himself in skin and suffered like me and you so that in our worst pain and moments of suffering we would know the truth.  God doesn’t scoff at the smallness of our pain.  God meets us in the intimate details of our pain.  God is with us even in the smallest hurts.

In our deepest pain, lies creep in and lead us to turn away from the only source of comfort.  We listen to the whisper that God does not understand the pain of abandonment or rejection; that He is frustrated with our pathetic inability to trust in the bigger picture;  God can’t possibly know what it feels like to be tempted to doubt His goodness in lonely nights or when tragedy strikes.

And Christmas is the evidence that these whispers are lies.  Christmas is the great glowing ebeneezer that reminds us we don’t have a God who wants us to just ‘get over it’.  We have a God who understands how rough this world can be because He lived it.

We have a God who came down and suffered with us.  Our God is the only being who never had to suffer; He’s the only person who never had to experience any pain, and yet He willingly endured the most horrific pain imaginable.  Why? So that in the moments when we are most tempted to despair in the face of our suffering we can go to Him, messy and broken and confident that He can help.

We have a high priest who understands because He too has endured suffering.  He knows about lonely painful nights.  He knows about losing loved ones.  He knows about being rejected and abandoned and forsaken.  He knows about the moments when you look around and everything seems to be going wrong.  He knows about faces flung heavenward, begging for another way.  He knows about the weight of suffering.  Look to the Cross; He knows."

Or as CS Lewis said in the Chronicles of Narnia:

"But please, please - won't you - can't you give me something that will cure Mother?"

Up till then he had been looking at the Lion's great feet and the huge claws on them; now, in his despair, he looked up at its face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion's eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory's own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself. 

SO, while struggling, while hurting, while striving to get through each day,remember Christ's birth and what it means both eternally and in the present.  We will suffer, we will hurt, but as we do, He not only understands, He hurts with us. 

Thursday Notes

First, best news of all: next week I get to see Jack and my sister and brother in law. My friend Paige and I are flying to Vermont monday to spend the holiday up there.  I can't wait to hang out with my favorite baby boy. (I hate when mothers are obnoxious about their own kids, but I worry how I will be, because lets be honest, I'm pretty obnoxious about Jack Attack, and he's not even my son.  So who knows how much I am going to make everyone listen to me drone on and on about my babies? Ha, hopefully, I'll keep myself in check.) I'm pretty in love with the little boogar though and am super excited to give him his first ornament and celebrate his first major holiday with him.

Here's a pic of me meeting Jack for the first time...



Other tidbits:

 Marley and I have decided to do a Thanksgiving brunch since we have dinner plans with some families from her church plant. Any suggestion on holiday brunch food? We would love ideas. So far our ideas include Mimosas and pumpkin waffles/pancakes....

Also, I was sharing some quotes with a friend today and thought I would share with y'all. I am not very eloquent and I can be wordy (d*mn ADD) so I love quotes because they say something so profound in so few words. Here you go....

"Don't complain as if you've been singled out for particular suffering.What you're experiencing is uncomfortable, transforming grace."  - Paul Tripp

"By His wisdom, he orders his delays so that they prove to be far better than our hurries."  - Spurgeon

"If it was God's will to bruise His own Son, why should it not be His will to bruise you?"  - Oswald Chambers

Finally, read this article on motherhood.  I thought it was great. I get so tired of moms fighting over breastfeeding, natural birth, teaching methods, parenting methods, diapers, etc! Its great to have an opinion on these things, but the true mark of a good mom is if she loves Jesus well and in turn, teaches her child to love Jesus well. I know its easy to say I won't fight about these things now, because I don't have a child yet so I don't feel things so strongly yet, BUT I hope that watching mothers - those that do obsess over silly details and those that don't- teaches me to remember whats most important. Then, whatever personal decisions I make will be secondary.

The cross is always difficult.

I really enjoyed this article on Precious Adornment website.

The author (who is now married) shares an article about singleness and Corrie ten Boom. I won't repeat all she says because both the author and Corrie do an excellent job already...but I will summarize: some people are called to lifelong singleness and many of those people (although I am certain not all) are content. Thats how Corrie was. But some are called to it temporarilly, in preparation for the future when they are married.

The in between years are used to prepare for marriage and teach the single woman (or man) that happiness can only be found in Jesus. This echoes the recent feelings in my own heart. A friend and I were discussing our unwanted singleness the other day and though I still don't like it, I have recently been more content with it (I hesitate to write that here because as soon as I say it, I am sure I will feel discontent!) It's not so much that I feel happy, but I have felt more content longing for something.... more able to live a happy life even if the thing I want the most is not there.

I told that same friend that the one huge blessing of singleness (that we don't realize is happening while it is) is that we learn to be okay with unmet longings. I think I have now come to the conclusion that I will always be longing for something - a spouse, children, a job, friends, owning a home, etc. And that longing drives me to my Savior, because the truth of the matter is, what I am ultimately longing for is heaven. So give me a husband and I wont be happy. Give me children or the perfect job or perfect home and I will still have some part of me that wants more. Why? because this world is fallen and imperfect and I was not made for this world.

Some of my married peers still seem to think life is supposed to be free of unmet longings. I think it is because their longings were always met quickly: they got married so early and had children when they wanted, moved into a home, etc etc. And they may learn the same lesson I do, but just at a different time than I do. So, as much as I don't want to be at the stage of life I am at right now, I find it a blessing that I am learning to live with longings because I will be living that way (in some form or fashion) until my Savior comes back. I am now more aware than ever of my longing for heaven!

When a lady told Corrie that living the single life longer than she wanted was too hard, Corrie replied that "The cross is always difficult" That hit home with me. In our Christian culture, we glorify all of our blessings as gifts from God (which they are) but with Christianity comes difficulty as well.

We should be more sensitive of the struggles and waiting of others, encouraging them to use it as preparation for the future -- both practically and in their relationship with Christ. Don't have a job? How can you prepare for one and how can you find your identity in your Savior? Longing for children? Prepare. Trust. We should gently point eachother to the cross, both acknowldging the difficulty but reminding eachother that following the way of the cross is difficult. We should not be surprised, scriptures states that we will have many troubles in this world (John 16:33) but that He will overcome the world!