Thursday, July 26, 2012

Words of Wisdom {& of Inspiration}

  There have been a few things on my heart recently that I just got encouragement, confirmation and inspiration on today!!!

  Most of you may know that I'm single.  And I'm praying for Mr. Right, have been praying fervently for him for several years.  Throughout these years, a few young men have come my way and I thought that maybe just maybe  they would be him.  They seemed to match the basics that I know I want (the things that I won't compromise on) and they also had things about them that I liked which I may have not have thought of before.  However, in each case, something happened to end these fledgling acquaintances. 

  As a side note, I have NEVER wanted to date anyone seriously unless it was the man God had for me.  Strange, maybe but I've seen too much heartache, bitterness and regret to want to go that route.  Anyway, After the most recent disapointment, one of my best friends pointed out to me that God was keeping me from getting into a relationship with anyone but my future husband.  That realization slowly sunk in and made me very thankful.  I don't think that I've ever prayed specefically that I would date only my husband, however, He's a God of HUGE and IMPOSSIBLE things so He certainly knows my heart and deepest desires.  Isn't that a blessing?  Ok, off that side note.

  I KNOW that God is preparing and bringing a godly man into my life.  He has assured me of that time and again.  However, sometimes I get nervous and lonely and out of sorts and I ask Him, "Where is he God?  Why isn't he here yet?  Can't you hurry up?!"  (Be honest!  You've thought it too!!)  And sometimes, I even slightly wonder why God allowed things to happen with those other Mr's who didn't turn out to be Mr. Right.  Well,  this morning, I was reading thru my blogroll and came upon this amazing post  that totally stopped me in my tracks. 

  God has had a hand in each and every young man that I have become acquainted with.  No matter for how long, no matter how high the degree of interest was, no matter that it didn't work out.  The point wasn't the acquaintance but the lessons God would teach me thru them.  And, boy, has he taught me some things (Praise His name!).

  One thing is to never settle for someone who meets all your requirements and seems just perfect and not be 150% sure (both you and he should be sure) that he is what God wants for you. 

  I especially loved the quote (which sums up what I've learned) "...even if something “seems good” that doesn’t mean it is what God has for you."

  That was my encouragement for the day!!  God's got my future and my future husband in hand and He's working it out for what's best for both him and I!

  ~~~~

  Next, for my confirmation! 

  For over a year I have been sending in applications to different volunteer organizations and no one has EVER responded.  I felt like God was closing the door and that He didn’t want me to do that. So I stopped persuing it. 

  In April, a door opened for me to be able to provide photography at a home for sex trafficked girls and in August, I will be meeting with the founder to talk about offering photography classes to those girls.  If that's not a volunteer opportunity, I'm not sure what is! All I can say is, “Wow!”  God works in crazy ways but most importantly, He works in HIS timing.  Not mine. 

  Not only that but last week I get a call and voicemail from a volunteer organization in my hometown that I applied for right at a year ago!  They asked if I was interested in helping and to contact them if I was. 

    Silly me, I began analyzing (not a good thing to do but I do it a lot).  1- I kinda didn’t want to volunteer anymore, 2- I would be working (hopefully) with the Girls Home, 3- I’m too busy to volunteer….

  Yea. 

  This morning I was in the midst of reading my blogroll and another blog post grabbed my attention.  You can find it HERE.

  The post really wasn’t about volunteering in the way that I will be (underprivileged youth, abuse etc) but one of the last statements got ahold of me.  “If you have even a slight stirring of compassion for the younger generation, do something about it immediately. Eternity is on the line. We don’t have to have our “act” together before we can be used. Thankfully, students want our presence more than our preaching anyway. The majority of the time, ministry is about showing up; God promises to give us the words at the moment they’re needed.”

  True story.

  Isn’t God amazing?  He is all up in the little things (like these two things I’ve mentioned above) as well as the big things in each of our lives. 

   So my mind has been made up and my decision to volunteer confirmed

  I would appreciate prayers as I am a tad nervous about this as I’ve never volunteered before. 

  ~~~~~~~~~~~

And lastly, some inspiration for fellow photographers out there. 

 I’m doing my first “styled session” tonight and I saw an article (once again while reading my blogroll) all about setting up one, beginning to finish.  Thought it might be useful to someone.  I know that I’m gonna keep it as reference. 

  It’s HERE.

  Tell me about some things in your life that God has encouraged you in or confirmed your heart and mind of. 

  Or, tell me about a styled session you have an idea for or have shot.  I’d love to hear.

Sara <3

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