WAITING

Good Morning to ALL!! This is Dana, John's daughter, writing this morning! Daddy is in Moultrie, GA with the Cross Ministry. They have worked so hard and made 6,000 crosses to hand out at the Agricultural Expo. I spoke with him this morning and he said he has already handed out 14 crosses before the Expo even opened!! Praise God!!!
I hope y'all don't mind that I take over "The Thoughts for Today" for a couple of days while my dad is away. I feel honored that he asked me to do so and pray I can do as well as he does! Here goes :)
Have you ever waited on someone? I am sure the answer to that is a big YES!! Don't you often get irritated if they take too long? Or find yourself watching the clock and wondering if it is ticking backwards instead of forwards? I know I do! And yes impatient can be my middle name most of the time. I have all too often found myself saying that phrase "I can't wait til...." And my sweet Aunt Sue would say, "Dana, yes you can!!" When I was younger I had no idea that being patient and waiting was a huge lesson that we all should learn and a hard one!!! If only I had learned that lesson when I was younger!!
I am not sure if y'all are familiar with my story, but it goes something like this: I got married, graduated with my counseling degree, bought a house, then prepared for a child to come right away!!! And when that child did not come right away I began my journey of waiting! Waiting on the Lord!!
And yes I was irritated!! I had planned my life out and why in the world didn't God get the memo? HA!!! And in true childlike fashion I begged God, I pleaded, I stomped my feet in anger with Him, pouted at Him, and sometimes even ran away from Him!! I finally found peace after I realized that I was NOT in charge of my life. That the Lord could see my entire life and I could only see a tiny fragment!! I found peace in trusting God's timing!! And I continued to wait on the Lord, but this time it was different. This time I waited and I worshiped!!! I waited and I praised the Lord!! I waited some more and I fell in love with God in a way I had never known. And I know for a fact that if I had waited for the rest of my life I would have been okay because I was waiting on my precious Lord!! I had all the time in the world for Him!!!
I can remember very vividly one day falling to my knees and feeling the weight of my burdens being taken on by Jesus. I felt a peace like no other and that is why I could have waited forever!!! The Lord granted my desire to become a mother and I can look back now and see that he was growing me into the person I am today. Now as a mother I can see that my strong relationship with God effects my son, Noah, in every aspect of his life! I am thankful that I was able to wait on the Lord!
Do you find yourself waiting on the Lord?? Are you trusting in Him so much that you can worship and praise Him while you wait? I encourage you to try just that!!! And I pray that you find peace in your waiting the way I did!! I also hope to remind you that the Lord is always waiting on us!! He waits on us to freely give our heart to Him!! He is such a gentleman and is patiently waiting on us!!

May God bless y'all today and may he shine His light upon your face!!!!

I will continue to update you on the happenings in Moultrie!! Please pray that my Daddy comes home with NO crosses left :)))

Love,

Dana

P.S. In true John Hicks fashion, I had to do a P.S. section!! I will post a picture of my son Noah, the one I waited for! He certainly was worth the wait!!! Wouldn't you agree??