I stopped praying for patience when I was fifteen years old. Someone told me that if you pray for something like that (patience, perseverance, faith, etc.,) God won't just give it to you. I was flabbergasted! Doesn't God want me to be a patient person?

The answer to that is a definite YES, right?

Then why won't he give to me?

Apparently, and this has been drummed into my head over the years, God cares about our journey--not just the destination. He's more concerned about who I am and how I develop in the process than in actually getting me to a particular place in life. Which means that when I pray for patience, God doesn't want to hand it to me in a neat little package. Instead, he wants me to develop patience, so he creates opportunities that allow me to exercise patience.

And that, my friends, is why I stopped praying for patience. Ha. Me thinking I could outwit God. Silly.

It hasn't worked. I still struggle with patience. The very idea of "waiting on the Lord" as the Psalms suggest is a mystery to me. I mean, yes, I get it. God wants to do things in His timing...He's got perfect timing. But deep inside, I still feel like I know what's best. I pray for things to happen...but I find myself praying a bit selfishly. Yes, I pray that God's will would be done in my life, but I think I sometimes undergird that with my own concepts of what God's will should be.

This experience of going on Staff with Young Life in Portugal has been a big stretching exercise in patience. I've been forced to "wait on the Lord." I've been back in America feeling as though I've been doing nothing but waiting to go back to Portugal! And goodness, let me tell you, I haven't loved waiting. It's uncomfortable. It's painful, even. And I'm pretty sure I've failed miserably over and over again in the patience department. Fortunately, God is good. And forgiving. And patient with me--something I certainly don't deserve.

My boyfriend sent me this article today, and it instantly struck a chord in me. I definitely felt convicted...and challenged.

"When you're waiting, you're not doing nothing. You're doing the most important something there is. You're allowing your soul to grow up. If you can't be still and wait, you can't become what God created you to be."

WHOA. I'd never considered that. I'm not going to say I love waiting...but I sure do appreciate the perspective that I'm not sitting here doing nothing. I'm growing up. I'm allowing God to mold me into the person He created me to be...and hey, that's not a bad thing.

I hope you enjoy this article...and I hope you're encouraged and challenged by it as well...

Click HERE to access it.

Love you all,
Ariel

Extra, Extra!

Click HERE to see my August Newsletter and get the update on what's going on!! :D



*update: Now that everything's gone through and been approved, turns out I can't cut out my health insurance, as I was hoping...they won't let me have a visa if I am not insured! This takes my TOTAL annual budget to $39,350 instead of $36,000. Questions? I'm here! :)

Updates Coming Soon!

Dear Friends,

I know I haven't posted in a while, but things have been CRAZY. I want you to know that new and exciting things are in the works...and I'll have updates on all of that soon.

I appreciate your support and friendship so very much!!

Ariel