Cell Phone Madness

How did I go from, "I dream of having a cell phone some day," to "I left my cell phone at home. I'm having withdrawals, and it's only been two hours?" Seriously, I have major issues these days when it comes to "being connected."

I took my sister-in-law to the airport and as I was running out of the house grabbing diapers, children, shoes, and such, I left my precious cell phone lonely on my dresser. I didn't even realize I forgot it until we were sitting down to grab a bite to eat. Oh no! I forgot my cell phone. How will I make it to the airport and back without it? What if something happens, what if someone needs me? I asked my sister-in-law to text my husband telling him I forgot it and he shouldn't worry if I don't answer my phone.

I was doing fine without my phone, until, of course, I dropped her off. I waved good bye and drove off wondering "What do I do now?" I always talk to someone when driving a long distance or I might listen to a Bible study. All of my music is on my cell too. My adorable little boys were in the car, so I put a movie on for them. Listening to Toy Story 3 for like the 50th time would have to do for now.

That drive home was the longest I have ever experienced...even though it really took 35 minutes for me to make it home. I know that someone called me and I missed it. Someone texted me and I couldn't respond. Someone probably emailed me, and now I can only wait to see who was in need of me.

I think the reason why it was difficult to endure those 35 minutes (I know, pathetic) was due to the fact that I felt disconnected from the world. Technology has advance so greatly, that now we stay connected with people through our small cellular devices. I don't even have to speak a word to someone and I can be having a long conversation with them. At this moment I felt disconnected. I felt like so many people must be missing me and needing me and I had no way to help them! Will this drive go any slower!!!

I did make it home...alive. Ha! I pulled our boys out of the car, ran inside, straight to my cell, and sure enough...not one person tried to contact me in any way! Am I not that important? No one needed me. No one wanted to talk to me. And then, Jesus whispered to me:

"I wanted to talk to you. I needed you. You are so important to me and you ignored Me."

Gosh, a little humbling...or a lot! It is so easy to allow our devices to control us and keep us connected, but really how easy is it to put it down and give a little time to our Creator? I didn't. It wasn't easy for me. But now I know that next time, I will remember this and spend time connecting with Him first.

Pursuing Purity

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments." ~Psalm 119:9-10

We've all been told how to pursue purity: wearing a purity ring, signing the commitment card, drawing the line on how far is too far, not developing relationships with boys, and I recently heard how a group of young girls each received a tiny box that they wrapped ribbon around and sealed with a bow. The girls were told this is their purity that they have now wrapped up and will save for their future husband. Ha! That last one was my favorite. (notice my sarcasm.)

Psalm 119:9 makes it so clear for us. How do we pursue purity? By following God's commands. By being drenched in His word and being obedient. We pursue purity as we pursue Christ. As you deepen your relationship with our Creator, purity becomes the by-product. Seek Him with your whole heart. Refuse the passing pleasures of this world.

I love having a plan. I need to know every detail about what I am doing, how it will work, who is involved, what they will do, and how my plan will succeed. I think that many of us think we need a plan when it comes to purity. We need it written out in easy step by step instructions. We need to know where I should draw the line and what is ok. Simply saying purity is the byproduct of a right relationship can be difficult for a planner to understand. You think "What does that mean??"

Well, I love how in Psalm 119:9 it makes it so clear. It gives us a plan and a simple one. "How do I pursue purity?" Read your Bible daily, follow God's commands, worship Him, pray fervently, be in fellowship through church, serve at your church, and focus your life on furthering the Kingdom of God.

Pursue Christ, pursue Purity

My Testimony

If you would like to read a large portion of my testimony, I wrote it out on the "About Me" page. God always does an amazing work in our lives when we simply surrender to Him!

Handling Fear

"You can lie down without fear and enjoy pleasant dreams...for the Lord is your security." ~Proverbs 3:24,26

Fear is my biggest weakness that just cripples me. It is so easy to let fear grip me and choke the life out of me. Whether it is the fear of the unknown, fear of the dark and "What was that sound?" or fear of something that's not real but I believe it could be real, so I fear it might happen. When fear has taken over, my thoughts spiral out of control and before I know it, I have let go of God's promises and begin to tremble.

So one of my friends told me that whenever I begin to fear, let that be a reminder to pray for someone. Like if you fast from food, when your tummy grumbles, use that as a reminder to pray or read the Bible. That made so much sense to me. So the next time I was fearful, it was like a little alarm went off as a reminder to pray for someone. So I prayed for my friend that told me this useful advice and I am telling you, that I believe satan hates using fear on me now.

I'm serious. Next time you fear, pray for someone, and watch how quickly fear leaves and how often you won't fear anymore. I use fear as a reminder to pray and I have found I don't fear much at all these days. Anytime we take one of satan's tactics to give God glory or run directly to Him, it infuriates satan and he quits using that. So try it and let me know how it goes!

I Refuse

"Therefore the Lord God sent him [Adam] out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life." (Genesis 3:23-24)

God created us by Him and for Him. We were created in His image (Gen. 1:26-27) and He created us all with a purpose. God created this beautiful garden, Eden, perfect, sinless, and ageless. He created a man and a women and placed them in this amazing garden as its protector. He created man and woman and then gave them a purpose. He always gives us purpose. Adam and Eve got to be in constant fellowship with God. Walking with Him and taking care of this unbelievable place. What a job!

But of course as we all know, Adam and Eve disobeyed God's simple command. They were then banished from the garden. You know we really have two choices: to obey God or not. He gives each and everyone of us a purpose, but that doesn't mean we have to do it. It is easy to give in to the deception of the enemy. He whispers, "Did God really say?"

Here is where I am amazed with this story: When Adam and Eve sinned and were forced to leave the garden, God put someone else there in their place. He placed an angel with a flaming sword to guard Eden. When we refuse to do what God has asked, He will find someone else to do it. Check out the chorus to this song:

"I Refuse," by Josh Wilson

‘Cause I don’t want to live like I don’t care.
I don’t want to say another empty prayer.
Oh, I refuse to
Sit around and wait for someone else
To do what God has called me to do myself.
Oh, I could choose
Not to move but I refuse.

I want to be that person who says yes to the purpose God has specifically called me to. I refuse to let someone else do the work that God has called me to do myself!

Not Everyone is doing "It"

So I want to let you know that 63 people from all over the world have signed their name on our "Not Everyone is doing it" page! If you have made a commitment to walk with Jesus and are saving sex for marriage, then we want to encourage you that you are not alone. We hear people say "Everyone is doing it" to pressure us, but in reality not everyone is doing it. So this page is to encourage those of you who are waiting that many other girls are too and you don't have to fight alone.

Take a moment and add your name to our list by clicking here.

Be encouraged that Jesus is always fighting for us and that you don't have to give in. You can stand and it's not impossible to stay sexually pure until your wedding day. Wait on Him, surrender to Him, and be blessed!!!

For those of you who have not waited and have given in to the pressure and temptations, DO NOT be DISCOURAGED! God has such an amazing plan for you! I hate satan and how he lies so frequently to us. TRUTH: Know that you are created with dignity, value, and worth and that no matter what, you can give up to Jesus and His plans; which He specifically has for you. Know that you can decide right now to commit to Jesus and you can live the rest of your life building a testimony of walking with Christ from now until you go to be with Him.

Blessings!

www.waitingfortheone.com

Don't Get Distracted

Long before I was married, I was working at a Starbucks Coffee shop where a handsome young man would frequently visit. Since I had only been working there a short time, I became really flustered each time he came in. It suddenly seemed I couldn’t do anything correctly. It was embarrassing to stumble over my words and mess up his order, but I didn’t really mind keeping him at my register a little longer.

Mr. Handsome was about 5’ 8”. He had dark eyes, dark wavy hair, dark skin, and (pause for dramatic effect) was Australian. His accent was breathtaking. I could sit for hours to the sound of his voice. He was extremely captivating, so when I overheard that he was employed at another Starbucks and was transferring to the store where I worked, my heart leapt out of my chest. Much to my disappointment, our shifts were scheduled at opposite times for the first four weeks, so I hardly saw him.

The Wait is Over

Finally, my chance came—our first shift together. I was so nervous! My heart beat wildly and I would go weak at the knees every time he smiled at me. I could hardly concentrate because I was so distracted by him. Eventually, we started working together more often and learned to love talking about everything—from surfing to newly released movies. I am such a chatterbox when I get nervous. Since we talked about everything, I found out he was not a Christian; we had completely different beliefs. So I did what I thought any Christian girl would do, I began to witness to him.

So Close

Since he lived right down the street from our work, there were a few times I gave him a ride home. I made sure that our conversations were only about the Lord. He was interested and seemed so close to becoming a Christian. I gave him a Bible, took him to a Christian concert, and even persuaded him to come to church one time. I was so excited that this amazingly handsome guy was about to come to know Christ, mostly because I started to fall hard for him. I couldn’t help it. He was such a gentleman, not to mention charming and handsome. He was the Prince I read about in fairytales…so I thought.

I Knew Better

You see up to that point in my life, I had never seriously dated, and I had always wanted my first serious relationship to be the man I would marry. I hoped so badly that this guy would become a Christian. I knew I couldn’t date someone who had different beliefs. The Lord was, and is, the love of my life and He was, and is, my everything. How was I supposed to share a life with someone who didn’t share my love for the Lord? I would be trying to live in the light with someone who could only live in the dark. Bright light and complete darkness cannot share the same space. I had been praying for a man after God’s heart and I knew that if I waited, the Lord would bring me to him, not to a non-Christian. However, I really struggled with this temptation because my desire to have a boyfriend was greatly increasing.

Resisting Temptation

It happened. He told me he was interested in me, and confessed to checking first thing each day to see if I was working the same shift. He said he always wanted to see me. My heart leapt at those words. I couldn’t believe that this boy would even be interested in me. I was a nobody. So you can imagine how this potential temptation became actual?

My co-workers weren’t Christians, but they knew my standards. They were watching to see if I would settle for a non-Christian guy. My flesh wanted to experience a relationship, to hold his hand, and to be in love; but my Spirit knew it would destroy me. I was in a battle and I mean a real battle. My feelings were out of control and I could hardly think straight. I would practically beat myself over the head wondering why I was falling for a non-Christian. My friends tried to talk me out of it, but nothing was working. I even tried to talk myself out of it, but that did not work either.

The Real Truth

Then the Lord spoke. During a church service, our pastor taught on these verses: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2.) My flesh wanted a relationship with this guy, but the Lord was asking me to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares. So right then, I committed to stand for Christ, to proclaim Him as my King, and to follow His plan, knowing that it would be much greater than my own fleshly desires.

I recorded this commitment in my Bible and knew I needed to call him to share what the Lord had spoken—a relationship between us would never work out. Fortunately, nothing happened; we were just friends. That phone call was a battle and a half for me. I wanted our relationship to work out so badly, but knew it could never last. He wasn’t someone I wanted to marry, so what was the point of dating him? It would have been a relationship that drew me farther away from the Lord. A right relationship will draw us closer to the Lord, not farther away.

The Call

I clutched the phone in my hands as my back slowly slid down the wall. I remained in complete silence as tears began to fall down my cheeks. The house was dark and empty and the sound of the dial tone was all you could hear. I dialed his number trembling, bit my lip, and he picked up. I had to explain to him that I wanted nothing more than to be friends. To my relief, he was sweet and very understanding. He agreed with my decline and it was over. After he hung up, I laid on the floor in shock. I couldn’t believe I had it in me to say no. And for that matter, saying no to someone I really wanted to say yes to.

Once again, Waiting for the One

We never hung out again and thankfully hardly ever worked together. I deleted his number from my phone so I wouldn’t be tempted to call. I had to slam the door on this desire in order to keep Satan from getting a foothold. Resisting temptation and knowing you did not compromise to the devil’s plans gives you a wonderful confidence. A great feeling of victory came from choosing God’s plan for my life. Little did I know how great His plan would be.

The next week I discovered the ugly truth that this guy had been dating a friend of mine the entire time he had pursued me. I was flat out astounded! It wasn’t easy refusing this guy, but I was so thankful I did. Sometimes it takes waiting out the storms to experience the calm. God has an amazing plan for your life when you decide to wait for His timing and for whom He has for you.

Adapted from Waiting for the One. Visit waitingfortheone.com to order your copy.