The story of how I met and married my husband is one most would call unique. You can read some of the story in Falling In Love on Purpose.
I met my guy in August, and by September I knew I was going to marry him. But, that’s not the only thing I knew.
After only a few conversations, we both felt God calling us to Seattle to start church. Growing up in Washington, I have always had a burden for the Northwest, an area that is severely under-churched. My dad worked with North American Missions for several years, and that put a love for church planting in my heart.
I was beyond thrilled that God decided to put a burden for Seattle in my husband and call us to start a church!
After we got married, we stayed in Texas, where my husband was teaching at Texas Bible College, for about 6 months before we finally made the move!
We felt God calling us to make a change, so my husband resigned, we packed up, and by Christmas we were living in…
Oklahoma.
That’s right.
It took five years and a move to Tennessee before God, in a three-day whirlwind, moved us to Seattle.
Five years of working, waiting, learning, praying, waiting, doubting, believing, waiting…
You get the idea. After all, you’ve probably been there too!
You may even be in the middle of it right now.
Maybe you only waited six months before a promise came to pass. Maybe five years have come and gone and you’re still waiting.
Waiting isn’t easy.
We waited for God to bring us to Seattle and now we’re waiting for our family to grow as we set out on an adoption journey.
There are many different seasons of waiting. Some seasons bring growth as we are lovingly cultivated by the Master, while others bring new levels of trust in and dependency on God. And sometimes it’s simply not the right time.
Wherever you find yourself as you read this, I want to encourage you to hold on the promises of God and wait with confidence. The amazing things that are on the other side of your season of waiting will be greater than you could have ever imagined.
The promises of God are worth waiting for, and His word will come to pass!
We’re all familiar with the story of Abraham and Sarah. God promised them a son, but it was many years before Isaac made his appearance. In the meantime, Sarah’s impatience gave birth to strife, hurt feelings, rejection, jealousy, and more! All of which could have been avoided if she and Abraham would have waited for God’s perfect timing.
Another familiar story is that of Joseph. God gave him dreams of how he would one day rise to lead his family. After waiting, being a slave, and then a prisoner, Joseph was finally elevated to rule over all of Egypt and save his family, and millions more, from the famine.
The end result was probably bigger and more important than Joseph imagined when he first had the dreams. In his season of waiting, God was simply positioning Joseph so he would be ready to step into the promise when the time came. Thankfully, Joseph waited patiently and trusted God. If he hadn’t, who knows how the story would have gone.
I’m so thankful we waited those five years before moving to Seattle. It was worth the wait! I would do it all over again because I know that His perfect timing makes all the difference.
As we wait for our little one to join our family, I’m trusting that God is moving behind the scenes to make our dreams come true. When we hold our little baby in our arms, the waiting will be worth it!
So, be encouraged and hold on to God’s promises.
When it’s all said and done, you’ll look back and say, it was worth the wait!