The Waiting Room

                       There are many seasons in life, but the hardest season is waiting. Whether you just graduated high school or college or you were laid off from work; not knowing what you are going to do next is scary and frustrating.
                       As a Christian it is almost inevitable that there will come a time in your life where you will have to wait on God in an area in your life. In these trying times, how should we as Christians handle ourselves? What should we do? How should we feel?
                        James 1:2-3 tells us "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." "Various trials" can mean that you don't know where your next pay check is coming from, or the engine to your family's car just gave out, or you simply just don't know where you are going in life. James doesn't tell us to have a pity party when trials befall us, instead he tells us to rejoice! He says we should rejoice because these trials are testing our faith and producing patience.
                        Why is it so important to produce patience? Well firstly pateince is one of the fruits of the Spirit. "But the fruit of ths Spirit is love, joy, peace, Patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control." Galatians 5:22.  And in Matthew 7:16 Jesus says "You will know them by their fruits.." The world knows us by our fruits or our lack there of; and patience is the key to the fruits. Once you've mastered patience you'll begin to see the other fruits develop in you.
                           Once you've gained patience, you'll notice that you have more love. It says in 1 Corinithians 13:4 "Love is patient; love is kind; love does not envy." (Verses 5-8 continue to say other things about love if you'd like to read them all :)) Love is patient; so you see you cannot walk in love without having patience.
                              Once you have mastered patience you'll notice that you have more joy and peace. When you are patient and waiting on the Lord you will have joy and peace because you will know that the pressure is not on you, instead everything is in God's hands!
                             Once you have patience you will begin to have kindness and goodness. When you are truly patient in the Lord you will be able to have kindness and goodness to others, no matter how dire your circumstances are because you will have peace in your heart knowing God has everything under control.
                              Patience also leads to faith and gentleness. Faith is "The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1. With patience we gain faith in the Lord, so although we cannot see an answer we know that God has a way already mapped out for us. Having a faith like this we will be able to be gentle not harsh or short with others.
                              And that is the perfect segue to our last fruit: self-control. When you have patience, you can better control your emotions and actions, so you are better equipped to handle those annoying people or tense situations.
                               All of the fruits of the Spirit really depend and piggy-back off of one another, and patience is in the middle of them all. Thats why James says count it al joy when we experience trials because these tests will produce patience in us.
                               So the next time you find yourself in the waiting room, praise God because now you can grow patience and all the other fruits of the Spirit in you!
                                                                   -Alexandra

Preparing For A Career

            One of the first questions poeple ask me when they first meet me is either: "What college do you go to?" or "What college do you plan on going to?" It's funny how most people don't ask me whether or not I'm going to college, they ask me what college I'm currently attending, or what college do I plan on attending in the future.
              So you can imagine the utter shock on peoples faces when I kindly inform them that I am not, nor do I plan on attending college. It is automatically assumed that I am either a loser with no drive or I am uneducated as to how essential college is. Whichever category people choose to place me in there is still one universal category that I am destined to be apart of: failure.
                In the eyes of most people college is the only way to obtain success in life; it's the only way to a career. When I tell people that I am still preparing for a career, as a Godly wife and mother, they don't undertand me, because well... How can you obtain a career without attending college?
               Well first what is a career? The definition of career is an occupation or profession, especially one requiring special training, followed as one's lifework. I definitely believe that to be a wife and mother that is glorifying to God requires special training from older women ( as it says in titus 2:3-5), and most importantly from God's word, as it says in Psalm 32:8, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye." Also I believe that being a wife and a mother is an occupation that becomes one's lifework.
                  I am not saying that one cannot obtain a career through college, because that would be foolish. What society has backwards is that college is used to define a person instead of Godly character. Also society has it that college is the ONLY way to be happy and successful in life. College is not the only way to a fruitful life, God is the only way to a fruitful life.
                   Proverbs 16:9 says, "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Also Proverbs 20:24 says, "A man's steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way?" These two Proverbs tell us that we may think we have it figured out, but God is the only one that truly knows the path that He has for us, and that path may or may not lead through college.
                     So as I am waiting on the Lord to lead me to my future husband, my career is preparing for my career. What career are you preparing for?
                       "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
                                                                        -Alexandra
           

Never Truly Alone

           In todays society a heavy emphasis is placed on having a boyfriend or a clique of some sort. As a girl if you don't have either of these you are considered an outcast.        
           The world teaches girls that she NEEDS to have a boyfriend and a group of girlfriends to be happy and complete. Even if she and the boy aren't really compatible, it's better to have him than to be alone; or if the group of girls aren't doing things to edify God or each other, then still it's better to still be friends with them because at least you still have someone.
            Instead of teaching girls to lean on God first and foremost, and allow Him to lead them to friends, society tells us that we need to find a group of people and cling to them even if they don't truly match us beause if we don't then we'll be lonely.
             Well what does it mean to be lonely? The definition of lonely is to be without company, or companionless. The world tells us that not to have a companion(s) means to be alone, but what does God say?
            'Have I not commanded you? Be stong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.' Joshua 1:9 God commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous not afraid or dismayed, because He was going to be with him wherever he went. What God commanded to Joshua still applies to us today.
             Through Christ, God is now with us wherever we go; how then can a Christian ever be alone? We can't because we aren't!!! God is always with us!
              The world tells us that if we have no human companion then we must live a sad lonely existence, but God tells us that we are never truly alone because we have Him.
              Men will fail and disappoint us, but God never will; He is the best friend that we could ever have!
             So if you are in a season of life where for Christ's sake you have no 'friends' remember that you always have a friend; God!
                                                             -Alexandra