Waiting on God- 4

Well, last night's sleep was somewhat better. I shortened Reagan's nap time by over an hour, which killed me yesterday. I had to wake her up pretty quick after I finally got Gracen to sleep and that hurt. When you have little ones, any free time you can find is precious. Anyway, she seemed tired by 8:00 last night, but still talked and sang songs in her bed until after 9:00. This was better than 10:00 or 10:30 like the nights before.

If you know Reagan, you know she loves to talk. I mean LOVES to talk. If I ever tell her to be quiet because I am trying to think or work on a church lesson, she'll tell me she is going in her room to talk and she will. She'll talk to her dolls, talk through books like she is reading them, and talk to herself. I am not sure she really knows how to be quiet. A lady at church on Sunday said to me, "You know, Reagan's personality is adorable and her conversational ability is quite interesting, but I bet that gets pretty tough to take 24-7 at home." Yes....Yes it does. Thank you for feeling my pain.

On top of Reagan's incessant talking, her Gran bought her a microphone that you hook into the radio. The radio acts just like a speaker and now her voice is amplified all over the house. Yeah! That was a really neat gift for about 10 minutes. This is a gift that we need to share with Gran. I'll be sending it to her house when Reagan goes for her next visit.


Waiting on God....continued
I wanted to share a little story from the book Just Give Me Jesus that reminds us that there is a purpose for our suffering/waiting.

"There once was a little boy who was confused by something his pastor said one Sunday morning. When he saw the pastor in the parking lot, he ran up to him, tugged at his sleeve, and inquired respectfully, "Sir, can I ask you a question about your sermon?" The pastor graciously halted on his way to the car and gave the young boy his full attention. "Sure, son, what is it?"
The boy explained, "You said I could ask Jesus to come into my heart."
"That's right," the pastor responded.
"But Jesus is a Man in a man's body," the little boy replied.
"That's right," the pastor patiently answered.
As a frown creased his brows, the youngster persisted, "But I'm just a little boy."
The pastor gravely nodded, "That's right."
The puzzled look on the young boy's face betrayed his total ignorance of the truth he was about to utter. "But if I'm just a little boy and Jesus is a Man, if He comes into me, He'll be sticking out all over."
"That's right," the pastor agreed with a knowing smile."

"Suffering is not only the platform for our witness, but it also often seems to be the pressure that pushes the character of Christ to the forefront of our lives so that others see Jesus "sticking out all over.
Has God increased the pressure in your life? Then praise Him, not for the pressure, but for His transforming power at work that will use it to produce His character in you until others can see Him. Paul described it this way..."We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us . We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body." (2 Corinthians 4: 7-11)
Our ultimate aim in life is not be be healthy, wealthy, prosperous, or problem free. Our ultimate aim in life is to bring glory to God. So would you start praising God for your "thorns" and limitations and handicaps and suffering and heat, asking Him to open your eyes to the opportunity He has given you to display His glory and character in your life? So that even your spouse, your child, your parent, your roommate, your friend, your coworker, your pastor, can see Jesus sticking out all over you."