Still Waiting

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Lynn

the-value-of-waitingWe’re still waiting for Grandbaby #3 to be born!  Any day now, we hope… but boy it’s tough to wait when all I want to do is hug on that precious newborn.  (I’m sure his Mom and Dad are equally excited to welcome their son into the world, eh Chandler and Brett?)

This year we are excitedly awaiting Paxton’s arrival but I have noticed that we always seem to be “waiting expectantly” every Christmas season.  Advent is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Birth of Jesus at Christmas. We wait for Christmas festivities, gift-giving, a New Year to begin.  New opportunities, new possibilities, new memories to be made!  We’re already planning summer vacations and events to put on next year’s calendar.  Sometimes I get so excited and ahead of myself, I just can’t wait for it all to happen right away!  It’s weird, but the fun sometimes is in the waiting…not knowing what to expect!  It’s being pleasantly surprised, being caught off guard, to not have things turn out the way I planned them.  That is Life’s journey.  I like to make my plans but sometimes it’s God allowing some unexpected curves on my well-thought-out path that makes life interesting.

I think the hardest thing for me to do…EVER…is wait. I am not the “waiting” kind! I want things to happen yesterday, meaning I don’t have much patience or stamina to wait for anything, ever!

I learned I had this problem with waiting, especially around Christmas time and birthdays. I could not wait for Christmas or my birthday to arrive. It was my thinking and anticipating about all the great presents I would get that probably threw me over the edge. I just couldn’t wait to open all those gifts and start playing with all my new stuff.

One year, I must have been six or seven years old, curiosity finally got the better of me. My parents had put me to bed and then went downstairs into the basement to wrap my presents for Christmas. They did not know it, but a few months previously, my parents had inadvertently allowed me to discover a hidden secret in my room when they had moved my dresser to make room for a new bed. The heat register, that had once been hidden under my dresser, was now visible if I crawled under my new bed. The ‘secret’ was that it wasn’t really a heat register, it was just a hole that looked straight down from my room into the basement below. Crawling under my bed I had a clear view of our ping-pong table that was being used as my parent’s wrapping paper production line. While they talked and wrapped up all the toys for my brother and me, they had no idea that I was peering down through that little hole in the floor and watching every move they made.

I was as excited as I could be knowing the great gifts I would get at Christmas, and it took everything in me to not blurt out that I knew what I was getting for Christmas. However as the weeks dragged on until the big day, I discovered something else. I was not as excited about Christmas as I had been before I knew what I was getting. There was something about the anticipation of waiting that I had not counted on. I knew exactly what I would get at Christmas and I didn’t look forward to the day with the excitement I had in previous years. There was no surprise element! In fact, the more I knew what I was getting, the more disappointed I was. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the toys, I did…my parents had got me almost all the things on my ‘wish list’, but I was still disappointed. The whole fun of the day I had ruined for myself by not waiting.

I have often thought about how often God has asked me to wait, to be patient, to not run ahead of Him so I might miss out on what He wants to do in my life. The fun is anticipatingly waiting on Him! I’m a break neck speed type of gal. I like the fact I can cook supper in five minutes in my microwave, or I can message a friend around the world using my cell phone or Facebook. I don’t like to wait but lately God is challenging me to slow down, be patient and enjoy my time in…waiting.

So what am I doing while I’m waiting? Well, sometimes I don’t ‘DO’ anything. There is a time to be busy but there are also times to be still. I have enjoyed having some time to appreciate stillness!  I have also enjoyed this time anticipating what it will be like to be a grandma of a newborn…again!  I’ve been having fun going through some photo albums when MY children were babies and when my first two grandchildren were born.  I have enjoyed time spent with my husband, and our adult children, thankful for the blessings each of them are to me.

I have had to continually remind myself to slow down enough to enjoy those spur-of-the-moment times with family and friends that are totally unplanned and unexpected.  As much as I look forward with great expectation to what will happen a day, a week, a year from now, I need to remind myself to enjoy those in-between days, those sometimes mundane but spontaneous, out-of-the blue occurrences that catch me totally off-guard but give me a lifetime memory.  I know I may make my plans but God directs my steps.  (Proverbs 16:9)  It may not be at all like I expected, but whatever may come…

I am learning the value of waiting.

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We’re On Baby Watch

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Lynn

gods-wordIt seems so appropriate that we are on “Baby Watch” this close to Christmas.  My son and daughter-in-law are expecting their first baby and he’s due to arrive December 14th…or thereabouts.  This will be our third grandbaby and as I have said to anyone who asks, “Grandchildren are probably the main reason we have children in the first place!”  Yep, I’m one of THOSE grandmas!!

When Jaxon was born in 2011, I had no idea that my mother’s heart could grow two sizes bigger.  But it did.  When Kharis was born in 2013, my heart kept expanding too!  I knew I was crazy in love with each one of my three children, but I did not know the capacity of love until I held my first grandbaby in my arms for the first time.  In a few weeks, I will hold another blessed grandson and my heart will stretch even wider.  It’s just the way God made grandmothers I guess.

My son and daughter-in-law are busy “nesting”, and they have been outfitted with everything they might need to welcome their new son home.  Between generous friends and family who have passed along items, or contributed to baby showers and – spoiler alert – more gifts under the Christmas tree for them this year, they will want for little.  My son, bless his heart, asked for a video game for his birthday last week and we indulged him.  I didn’t have the heart to tell him his video-game-playing days are numbered now.  He’ll learn soon enough, and knowing my boy, he’ll be totally okay with the new shift in priorities.  He’ll make a good father.

But it won’t be easy.

Even with all the books on Parenting written, the countless Pinterest Pins on the subject, and the unsolicited and solicited advice from family members, there is not a precise manual that will educate parents well-enough to raise a child properly from birth to adulthood…save ONE of course.

The Holy Bible.

If you wonder what to get a young, expectant couple for a shower gift…give them a new Bible!  It was and has been my first and favoured parenting manual and the pages are dog-eared from over-use.  No, it may not be specific on what to do when it comes to managing a colicky baby or how to best potty-train a child, but it soooo ministered to me as I went through those ordeals with my babies.  Countless passages on patience, love, gratitude, and humility I claimed whenever I needed help to better parent my child.

When I felt defeated and discouraged at the end of the day because of strong-willed children, I found peace and encouragement in scripture.  When my children came home crying from being bullied or hurt, my mother’s heart ached for them and I found the words to comfort them through the Word.

When I was weary, I found strength.

When I felt upset and rattled by the task of parenting, I found the pep-talks I needed in the Bible.

As we welcome our next precious grandbaby into the Dove family, I know if my son and daughter-in-law stay immersed in the greatest parenting manual ever written, the Holy Bible, they’ll be okay.

Yes, there will be some long days and nights ahead…

But, they’ll be okay.

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Unanswered Prayers

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Lynn

Am I the only one who thinks it is self-serving when sports teams or athletes pray for victory before their game or event?  I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I’m just wondering what happens to their faith if they have prayed and then God doesn’t answer their prayer for victory?  Does God have a favourite sports team that He blesses with victories over another?  Does God decide the outcome of a game based on the fervent prayers of players?  Does one team praise God when they win, or curse God when they lose?  Just asking…?

It’s been one week since the election of a new president-elect in the U.S.  As a Canadian watching the events this past week, I can’t help but compare the goings-on south of the border to a sporting event with winners and losers.  There is no doubt there was MUCH prayer leading up to the outcome of that election.  Franklin Graham made an interesting comment on Facebook:

“Did God show up? In watching the news after the election, the secular media keep asking “How did this happen?” “What went wrong?” “How did we miss this?” Some are in shock. Political pundits are stunned. Many thought the Trump/Pence ticket didn’t have a chance. None of them understand the God-factor.

Hundreds of thousands of Christians from across the United States have been praying. This year they came out to every state capitol to pray for this election and for the future… of America. Prayer groups were started. Families prayed. Churches prayed. Then Christians went to the polls, and God showed up.

While the media scratches their heads and tries to understand how this happened, I believe that God’s hand intervened Tuesday night to stop the godless, atheistic progressive agenda from taking control of our country.

President-elect Donald J. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence are going to need a lot of help and they will continue to need a lot of prayer. I pray that President-elect Trump will surround himself with godly men and women to help advise and counsel him as he leads the nation. My prayer is that God will bless America again!”

I firmly believe that God listened to the prayers of the faithful but – just playing devil’s advocate here – didn’t the other “side” pray just as fervently for victory?  Why didn’t God answer their prayers?  There were Christians in both camps.  Many wonderful, Godly people could not support Trump because of his character flaws and divisive statements.    Don’t for a second think that these people did not agonize and prayerfully beseech God for direction.  Voting for the other candidate did not rank these people amongst what Graham calls the “godless” having “atheistic progressive agendas”.  It was a no-win situation for them.  Did they just hear God wrong?  I wonder if their faith is shaken?  I hope not!

I remember a year ago when we had our Provincial Election here in Alberta and the NDP (New Democratic Party) won an overwhelming majority in our province.  The NDP could be likened to the Democratic Party in the States, perhaps even MORE liberal-minded!  That same year, Canada elected a Liberal Prime Minister to govern our country.  My husband and I had prayed fervently for a different outcome in both elections.  Yet, God did not answer our prayers the way we wanted Him to.  Was our faith shaken?  Not at all!

I REALLY like what my friend, Dr. Richard Blackaby wrote the day after the U.S. election last week.  It applies to all Christians on BOTH “sides” and BOTH sides of the border too:

“The question now is: what do we as Christians do the day after? Can I offer a few suggestions?

First, accept the result as the hand of God. Scripture indicates: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Prov. 16:33). God is sovereign over nations and we can trust His wisdom and love in what He ultimately allows. Americans have become notorious for refusing to accept results that seem unacceptable. If people’s favored candidate doesn’t win, they resist the decision, or set themselves up as fierce opponents, or threaten to leave the country! As a Christian, you may not have liked the result, but you need to accept it.

Second, don’t be afraid! Christians ought not to be gullible to conspiracy theories and doomsday predictors. The foremost reason is that our God is “High above all nations” (Ps. 113:4). The key is not who occupies the Oval Office but who sits on the throne of the heavens. That has not changed. Likewise, if you study the history of American elections since George Washington was first elected in 1789, there have been many times when dire warnings of apocalyptic catastrophe hovered over the newly elected president. Rarely, if ever, have the dire predictions been fulfilled. Eventually the new leaders embraced the challenge and the worst fears proved groundless. Don’t become someone driven more by fear-mongers than by the Holy Spirit!

Third, be gracious. Scripture exhorts: “Let your speech always be with grace” (Col. 4:6). In defeat, be gracious to the victors. In victory, be kind and gentle to those who lost. America is deeply divided. The last thing it needs is for Christians to add to that polarization by firing Social Media missiles to taunt and antagonize those who disagreed with you. There is no need to belittle those who voted differently than you did. Many sincere Christians agonized over which candidate to vote for. We can respect their effort without agreeing with their choice.

Fourth, pray for the new president. Scripture does not command us to pray for those we vote for. It commands us to pray for whoever is in government (1 Tim. 2:1-2). Regardless of who was elected president, they were going face enormous challenges. Every American has a vested interest in the next president doing an outstanding job. So we must pray fervently.”  (http://www.blackaby.net/blog/2016/11/09/the-day-after/)

Can I get an “Amen”?

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