Waiting...

During the time that I've been a teenager, it seems like I've been doing a lot of waiting. Waiting to be able to wear higher high-heels. Waiting to be experienced enough to get my driver's license. Waiting with much anxiety to see what my final grade is in math class. The list goes on. While all of this waiting is happening, I sometimes find myself becoming impatient and wishing that important events would just happen already! Have you ever felt like that? I especially feel this when I think about romance. I have made the decision not to date in high-school, and to save sex for marriage, though I do not deny that waiting in both areas is quite challenging. The waiting is worth it in every possible way, but difficult! Sometimes, after I've watched a chick-flick that simply oozes romance and dramatically amplifies the beauty of having a someone, I find myself yearning for someday! Someday, being the day when I, too, have a someone. Then, in my selfishness and impatience, I begin  to abhor the wait. But God is gracious, and I am reminded that His timing is perfect, and that He is writing my love story (and that, while I wait, I have much maturing to do!). 

Waiting on the Lord to reveal the future is also very trying. Over the summer, He showed me that I am supposed to pursue music in college, but He did not reveal all of the details, such as which college I need to be at, whether I am called to ministry or not, and what field of music I am to pursue. I trust that He will unveil these details in His timing, but simply abiding in this nugget of knowledge He has placed in my heart can be extremely toilsome! In my impatience and tendency to plan ahead, I want to know exactly where I'm going to college, the precise field I'm studying, and whether or not I'm supposed to pursue a Master's degree, too! But usually, that's not how things work. A quote from a book by D.C. Talk titled "Live Like A Jesus Freak" is very inspiring and truthful on this subject: "Faith is a lot like hiking on a trail at night, guided only by the beam of a flash light. You have just enough light for your next step."  God only reveals enough of His plan to us to enable us to take that next step, and we need to have the faith to believe that He will continue to do so. In the meantime, we must wait patiently and fervently, not squandering our time, but putting it to good use by serving God and abiding in His peace, remembering that good things come to those who wait!

~Psalm 28:14 Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing

For those of you who have seen the old movie "White Christmas" starring Bing Crosby, you may recognize the title of this blog from one of the songs in the movie! A few years back I learned how the waltz, which is a very elegant, romantic style of dance. Recently, some of my friends and I learned how to swing dance, which is very up-beat, fun dancing. I am not a wonderful dancer, but I enjoy it immensely!

  As the song that inspired my title was playing over and over in my head, I realized that it's true-some of the best things do happen when you dance. First of all, you learn team-work! If one of you is off-beat, then it totally throws the other person off and you have to stop dancing for a moment, feel the beat, and then start dancing again. In the same way, if one person steps the wrong way or is out of synchronization with the other person, it makes the dance very awkward. While dancing, you must become one in movement. One person must lead, and one must follow, making team-work extremely important.

Another aspect of dancing is emotion. Have you ever heard the saying, "Dancing encourages affection"?  This saying is true, but luckily, dancing doesn't always have to water the seed of romance-it can feed friendships instead! Something really wonderful about dancing is that when becoming one in movement, you draw closer together as friends, and end up having buckets of fun while doing so! Even if you're extremely clumsy like me, you can still laugh and have a splendid time.

Struggles

Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." I'm one of those in the "all" category-each and every one of us is! So that means that I'm not perfect. I never have been, and I never will be-just ask my siblings! Even though Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and I have a relationship with Him, in my human frailty, I still struggle with my old sin nature. Even the apostle Paul, one of the heroes of the faith noted in Romans 7:14-25 that he struggled with sin nature. The Bible doesn't promise or even hint that you won't struggle with sin once you've become a Christian, but it does say that the Holy Spirit will work in your life to help you fight the battle against the flesh. 
All Christians have struggles, and I'm definitely not exempt. Lately, I've been struggling with being independent. I've also noticed that my (and every Christian's) adversary, the devil, has also spotted my weakness very quickly.
Dear reader, the Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil is our enemy, and he prowls about seeking whom he may devour. Well, I've learned that once the devil detects a vulnerable flaw in your life, he promptly attacks with lies that are both cunning and deceiving.
 Recently, the lies he's been feeding me sound something like this: "You don't need any body's help-you're 16, almost 17! You're nearly an adult...they all think you're still a little kid and you can't do it...they think they're more capable than you are and that you're not smart enough to do this...you don't need them, you don't need anyone! You are self-sufficient." And, dear reader, can you believe that sometimes I'm so dumb that I listen to these fibs? 
Thank goodness though for one of the strongest weapons against the devil-the Sword of the Spirit! I'm reminded through God's word again and again that I can't do everything on my own-I need other people and I need their help! But most importantly, I need Jesus. I can't do anything without Him, no matter what my old sin nature may say. Without Him, I'd be a useless, helpless, hopeless, abysmal wreck.
But do you know what's really cool about God?  He always gives second chances! Even when I reject His hand, thinking that I can do it on my own, He's always there with His strong, uplifting arm to pick me back up after I've fallen flat on my face into the slime of failure.
 I'd appreciate your prayers, and I'd love to be able to  pray for you as you wage war against your own battles! May we, through Christ, be victorious!