Promise Fulfilled

In September of 2009, God made a promise to me that seemed impossible... impossible for God.  The thoughts that ran through my head were, there is no way, God is wrong, I am not His girl.  I was not qualified for the calling He had put on me. 

Those thoughts were not from God.  The thoughts placed in my heart were from the enemy.  The enemy wanted me to feel disqualified, incapable and doubtful.  Those are not thoughts from God.  But, I dismissed this calling because of the thoughts floating around in my head.

Fast forward a few years and God was still pressing on me with this promise.  But, I was still allowing the enemy speak into my life.  I still felt unqualified and incapable of the task at hand.  In 2011, God knew that I was stubborn and unwilling to budge.  He intervened and derailed the plans I had for myself, setting me on the path to fulfill His promise. 

Over the last four and a half years, I have felt as if God abandoned me, as if God had changed His mind on me, as if I was unqualified, unworthy and unable to complete the task at hand.  I have rejoiced in His provision and worshipped in His protection.  I have turned the honor and glory back to Him, when things were going well and when they were not.  I have faith to belief and lacked faith to belief. 

But, through all the ups and downs over the last four and a half years, a few things never changed.  God never gave up on me.  God never changed His mind.  God's promise was constant.  God's provision was steady.  God qualified me by calling me.  God never stopped being good.

Over 1,600 days after God called me to work in ministry, I was asked to joint he staff of First Baptist Church in Justin, Texas as the Associate Children's Minister. God showed me His faithfulness by fulfilling a promise He made to me four years, five months and one week ago.  God is still good.

My encouragement to you... Don't give up hope on a promise God has made to you.  Don't stop believing that He will fulfill a promise that He has made to you.  He who has made a promise to you, will be faithful to complete it.  Have faith.

Movies to See

 

Recently, I was talking to my parents and discovered that there were many must see movies tat I had not yet seen.  We began compiling a list of movies that I must see.  My typical choice of movie is a good romcom.  My favorites are Notting Hill, Titanic, and Forest Gump.  I love anything Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Without further ado, here is a list of must see movies my parents suggested...

• Jaws (1975)
• Terms of Endearment (1983)
• Sixteen Candles (1984)
• Back to the Future (1985)
• A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
• Die Hard (1988)
• Say Anything (1989)
• The Abyss (1989)
• Die Hard 2 (1990)
• Thelma & Louise (1991)
• The Bodyguard (1992)
• Dumb and Dumber (1994)
• Something to Talk About (1995)
• The Matrix (1999)
• Mickey Blue Eyes (1999)
• Amelie (2001)
• Americas Sweethearts (2001)
• District 9 (2009)

 

Chime In!! What movies do I not have on here that I should have?  Help me add to this list, and I will do my best to watch them!

Wait Pt. 4

This week, I have been sharing with you about waiting on God.  Waiting isn't easy for many.  We live in a day when we don't have to wait frequently.  But, waiting is something we must do.  We wait in the car on our commute to and from work, we wait for a call back, we wait for a red light to turn green, we wait for the water to boil... waiting is inevitable. 

 

I'm no stranger to waiting.  I've had to wait for the oven to preheat, wait for a friend to text me back, wait in traffic and wait on God.  I have had God promise me something and not see it fulfilled immediately...  But, nothing is wasted when God is involved.  Waiting has its blessings and lessons.  Today, I would like to share with you what I have learned from waiting for a promise from God to be fulfilled.

 

I have learned a lot about God's faithfulness.  Sometimes a promise isn't fulfilled the next day or the next week or the next year.  But, He is faithful to complete His promise. 

 

I have learned that He is still good even in the waiting.  Maybe, even more so in the waiting.  I have seen his protection and provision first hand in the waiting. 

 

I have learned to be in tune to God's words for my life.  Having a consistent quiet time with God has changed my walk with God.  I would not have heard God tell me to quiet my job, to lead an eGroup, to go to seminary and so many other things.

 

I have learned to be patient.  I am a patient person when it comes to most, but then other times I have zero patience.  Patience in my walk with Christ has been a learning experience.  Just because most things are instant in our world, doesn't mean that all things are.  God is still good in the waiting.

 

 

Chime In!!  What have you learned from waiting on God?

Wait Pt. 3

This week, we are talking about waiting.  I have shared with you the season of waiting that I am in.  Today, I would like to share with you what Scripture says about waiting.

When I think about waiting, the first and greatest example that comes to mind is the story of Abraham and Sarah.  God promised Abraham that he would be father of all the nations.  When Sarah became impatient, she gave her servant to Abraham to bore a child.  It wasn't until thirteen years after Ishmael's birth that Abraham and Sarah conceived Isaac.  Abraham and Sarah were well advanced in age at this point.  The story of Abraham and Sarah's season of waiting in the majority of the book of Genesis.

Joseph has another beautiful story on waiting.  Joseph was sold by his brothers as a slave.  God promised Joseph that he would be the leader of his people.  At the time, Joseph was in a prison cell.  Over time, with patience, Joseph became the leader of his people and of the people of Egypt. 

How about the story in Joshua 6?  Jericho was closed; no one in, no one out.  God came to Joshua and told him to take the city that had already been given to him.  Joshua was told to march around the city of six days, and to blow the trumpets on the seventh day, after marching around the city of seven times.  Joshua did not share this information with his army.  How do you think Joshua's army felt?  What were their thoughts, do you think?  Marching around a city of six days, and then seven times in one day trumpeting?  What a story on waiting...  Joshua 6:27 says, "God was with Joshua".


For a little encouragement to press through seasons of waiting...

James 5:11 says that we should consider it a blessing to preserve. 

Galatians 6:9 warns us against becoming weary in doing good... the proper harvest will be reaped in due time.

Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to trust in the Lord with all of our heart, leaning not on our own understanding.

Psalm 40:1 says "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.

Wait Pt. 2

This week, I am sharing with you the importance of waiting in your walk with Christ.  Waiting is not easy for many of us.  It's an acquired skill that many of us have to work on over time.  Today, I would like to share with you how I have had to wait on God.

My entire life, I have desired to be a teacher.  As long as I can remember, I was playing teacher with my brothers, my friends and my dolls when I couldn't find a living being.  I was destined to be a teacher.  When I was 15, I got a job at the Boys and Girls Club working full-time in the summers and part-time during the school year.  My senior year of high school, I took a class that allowed me to have an internship in a classroom with four and five year olds.  It was perfect, right up my alley!  After graduating high school, my plan was to go to a university and major in Elementary Education.  Teaching kindergarten was my dream.

In 2008, God told me that one day I would work in ministry.  I couldn't believe this.  My life was not fit to work in ministry.  I was not living the most Christ-like life.  As nervous as I was about this call, I just as much laughed it off and assumed that God got something wrong. 

Early in 2009, I began serving in children's ministry.  If God had called me to work in ministry, I might as well start somewhere.  Passion and leadership was seen in me from various staff members of the church.  Increased responsibility happened quickly!

A few years after I first felt God call me to ministry, I was two classes away from graduating with my Associates in Early Childhood Education.  God had been pressing on me to change my major.  I continually felt as if I was making the wrong decision.  But, teaching was all that I knew.  God couldn't possibly use me in any other way.  After a series of events that only could have been orchestrated by God, I was dropped from these two classes and would have only been able to re-enroll next semester. 

Okay, I get it God... You are preparing me for ministry...

 

I took a year and a half off of school, waiting for God to tell me what was next.  What school?  What degree program?  What career path?  I diligently worked in a preschool for this time, waiting for God to guide my next steps.  I used this time waiting to research schools, research programs, research career paths... but God kept telling me not yet.

 

In the midst of this waiting, God kept reminding me that I was called to work in ministry.  Three times, staff members at my church approached me about applying in children's ministry and student ministry.  I applied three times.  Sadly, the timing wasn't right.  I wasn't even considered, even after given a high recommendation from staff. 

 

When I finally heard from God, there was no denying it.  I began attending Liberty University Online, majoring in Religion almost immediately.  When graduation was in sight, I began to consider what was next.  Seminary was always in the back of my mind.  But, getting my Masters degree always seemed out of reach.  I wasn't smart enough, I wasn't qualified for such a task.  Now, I am enrolled at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary getting my Masters in Divinity with a Concentration in Children's Ministry.

 

I am still waiting, sometimes more patiently than others, for said position in ministry.  There have been more moments than I would like to admit to that I have felt like God has abandoned me.  There have been more moments than I would like to admit to that I have felt like God has given up on me.  There have been more moments than I would like to admit to that I have felt like God has forgotten about me.  But, I am repeatedly comforted by God's Word. 

 

 

Chime In!  How have you waited in your walk with Christ?  What did you learn through waiting?

 

Coming Up...  Tomorrow, I will share with you what Scripture says about God's promises.  Thursday, I will share with you what you can learn while waiting on God.