Isaiah 30:18b: For the LORD is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who WAIT for Him.
God taught me a lesson on waiting on Him
a couple years ago that I wanted to share.
After I finished my playing career with
USA Softball in the 2004 Athens Olympics
and had a 3rd Gold Medal to add to my
other two, I was excited for the next
stage of my life. I already had one
son, Jake, who was 3 yrs. old at the
time and couldn't wait to have another
child. After a few months of trying and
trusting that the Lord's timing for a
baby was perfect (I read my journal the
other day and I wrote "God I know
you are never early and you are never
late"), I became pregant and had my
2nd son, Drew, in October of 2005. Nine
months later I was pregnant with my
third boy (I so badly wanted a girl, but
trust that God knows what I need more
than I do), and Luke was born 2007.
I had made appearances for softball clinics
and speaking throughout my years on the
USA Team (1996-2004). Some speaking was as a keynote
speaker for random events and at other events
I would share my faith in Christ. In the fall
of 2007, I had a chance to share my faith at
a softball event with athletes, parents, coaches
and umpires. When I heard the impact God made
through sharing my faith, my heart began to stir
inside me. My passion to not only motivate others,
but to speak TRUTH and share that who and what we put our
faith in will have ETERNAL consequences
was brought into light. I love God and want to
honor Him, and people need to know who God is!
I told God, "I will go wherever you take me and
share Your Truth." God put this on my heart:
In the end, when we take our last breath, every
other kind of motivation is meaningless.
So this is when the lesson came. I believed God
gave me this passion to speak (I never wanted to
speak, and without God, I do believe I would not
be effective when I share) and now I was trying
to figure out "where" I would speak. I knew God
had to be the One to open the doors. This passion
kept growing and I kept asking "God, what do you
want me to do with this?" It's funny because it's
not like I didn't have a full schedule with a 9 month
old, 2 yr. old and 6 yr. old, while coaching a HS softball
team and homeschooling my son. I began getting
impatient and said to God, "Please either take this
desire away or show me what You have planned for me."
I asked my Bible study friends to pray that God would
take the passion away or use me now. THEN I FINALLY
learned the lesson God wanted me to. The answer
was that I had to WAIT! See, I am alright if the
answer is no, but I need to be fine also if the answer
is to WAIT.
I learned so much through WAITING. During this time
I realized that I could prepare more & dig deeper into
the Bible, and during this waiting, I also learned
more about the POWER of PRAYER. I learned to LISTEN
to God and hear from God when He is speaking in the
still, small voice. I learned how and why I should
fast and the Biblical foundation behind fasting. I
am so glad God made me WAIT, because He taught me
so much!!! This past year God opened doors all around
the country and I was able to share many of these
truths that He showed me during the time that I had
to wait. Now, when God says to WAIT, instead of
growing impatient, I will grow in WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE
and GRACE.
When God doesn't say yes or no to you, then
recognize what you can be doing while you are
waiting. He will bless it!
Isaiah 40:31 "But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew [their] strength; They shall mount
up with wings like eagles, They shall run and
not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."
This Billboard is from one of the speaking
engagements this year in South Carolina that
I would have to WAIT for.
