good reminders :)

a friend sent this to me today, i invited her to join the blog. this is such a great reminder...:
"The preparation of Esther reminds me of that
precious time between the awakening of desire in a young
woman.s heart to share her life with a mate and the
moment she walks down the aisle. For many, this time of
preparation is seen as nothing more than a time of waiting.
Single women often see themselves as sitting on the shelf
while life passes them by, or as sitting on the bench while
others play the game. They do not realize that they are
wasting the most important time of their lives, they are
robbing themselves of great joy and reward, they are
robbing their future husbands of a more virtuous woman,
and they are robbing God of a servant through whom He
desires to do great things.
Every season in life has a beauty and wonder of its
own. My prayer for all single Christian women is that they
might enjoy their time in spite of the lies of the world. That
they might be demanding and not settle for anything less
than the perfect will of God. That they might wait patiently
on God who is the giver of every good and perfect gift.
That they might be like Esther, using whatever time God
deems necessary to make them beautiful on the inside and
out."
Becoming Esther
by Charo & Paul Washer
sarah- i enjoyed reading your post today! i loved the verses and quotes by lucado. i agree with you though, he can definitely be the motivational speaker-type. which in some cases is refreshing, and in others it is kind of surfacey and not what you may want to hear at the time...but i loved the quotes you put! i especially liked the bold "we only need to know He leads". after reading the article i copied and pasted above, i totally see this as being a season where the Lord is working within us. He is present and He is working in ways we don't see but we must trust. i am in awe that He pursues even through my lack of faithfulness and trust. and i love the term "romanced". especially after reading "redeeming love" 2 times, i felt assured and definitely reminded that God is love. He constantly is pursuing us no matter how much and how often we run away from Him. and it's sad and humbling at the same time how much we DO run from Him, when He is the One who loves us unconditionally. i have to be honest and say that i struggle with seeing myself as "sitting on the shelf" watching the world pass me by, when the Lord has sovereignly put this season in my life for HIS glory. selfishly, i look at myself with pity and get into this withdrawal stage where all i want to do is feel sorry for myself. when it seems all of my friends are in relationships or are engaged/married, it's hard not to feel this way. and sometimes i question God and ask Him why i do feel this way, because i desire so much to completely trust Him, and yet so often i look inwardly and am selfish. i so desire for this time in my life to be glorifying to Him and to the Lover of my soul! i so desire to serve Him and truly KNOW and love Him more! but i know and can feel the attack of self-pity and how much it DOES rob me of joy. and something that has stuck with me for months now is something anna l. sent me in a letter that said, "aim for restoration!" with the verse- "restore to me the joy of thy salvation"- ps 51:12. and from ps 23- "HE restores my soul". i'm drawn more and more daily to know everlasting joy through HIM that will banish the self-pity and allow me to live for His Kingdom and not for earthly treasures and not for myself.

to know Him more!