The Lord hears me when I call...

So, my sister-in-law told me I had to write a follow up post to yesterday and she's right, I do! God works in mysterious ways and I'm humbled and awed by His tenderness and presence in our lives. Right after I got to work yesterday, I got an email from Dave saying my parents had called on their way to the airport. They had read my email and felt it was totally the Lord speaking to them. Turns out, their time of waiting had finally come to an end and God had answered. They have been desperately trying to sell their house, as they felt God's leading, and it has been quite the rollercoaster. First, it was, "I can't believe you're selling the house." We were ALL so sad. But, we knew if God was leading, then it had to be so. Then, they were showing the house constantly, got an offer, and it totally fell through. Suddenly, it became, "Ugg...I wish you could sell the house." Amazing how God slowly transforms our hearts to His will, isn't it??? Well, my parents got an offer on their house a couple of days ago and were waiting to hear back on their counter offer. They were leaving for a big trip and just wanted the peace of mind that all was taken care of. My mom was so discouraged, knowing she had to leave for the airport and they hadn't heard anything yet. I reminded her that regardless of if God answers our prayers, we need to trust Him and be at peace. So, anyhoo, David emailed me right after I got to work and said my parents heard back on the house 5 minutes before they had to leave for the airport and were able to sign the offer. Soooooooooooo exciting! It was so humbling to realize that God had heard our prayers and was merciful and gracious in answering that prayer before they left. Pretty awesome. I can't believe my Bible study yesterday was on how God can orchestrate events and people to bring about His will and right in the midst of reading that, He was orchestrating events and people to bring about His will in my parents' lives. We have a God who hears, who answers when we call, who knows our deepest groans and desires, and who loves us enough to know what is best and right for us. I'm so grateful to Him and to Him be all the glory!

Inspired by the Holy Spirit...

So, after writing on my blog last night, I had the greatest morning! I got to bed later than I wanted to. I put out my workout clothes and just decided that if I was able to get up at 5:30 and go work out, I would. If I had trouble sleeping or couldn't get up, all well...things happen. So, last night I was able to sleep, but woke up several times in the night. It was an ok night of sleep. My alarm went off at 5:30 and out of habit, I pressed the snooze button. To my shock and utter amazement, I was wide awake! My immediate thought was, "Marci, surely you are not that awake. Go back to sleep." And then I realized, wait, this is what I've been wanting for weeks. Get up! Take advantage of this!!! So, I got up, made coffee, and decided to have my devotions outside. It's actually pretty light outside at that time! I had my workout clothes on so I could have my devotions, my first cup of coffee, and be at the gym by 6:30 or so. This was turning out to be a great morning.

...and then the Holy Spirit worked. I'm doing a Beth Moore study and also working my way through a book of Puritan prayers called "The Valley of Vision". If you don't have it, go get it! It's so rich and full of truth and wisdom!!!! Anyhow, it just so happened (not really, it was not a coincidence) that the puritan prayer I read this morning also connected with the day I was on in the Beth Moore study. It was all about waiting for God's timing and recognizing that He is at work in the "waiting" time. As many of you know, David and I would LOVE to be parents but for some reason feel that we just have to wait. Neither of us want to but are trusting that God has a reason for causing us to wait...even if that means just exercising faithfulness and trust in Him. It's NOT easy!!!! But, I was so encouraged and strengthened by what I was learning.

My parents are also going through a time of testing and waiting and I just felt the Holy Spirit telling me to write to them this morning as soon as I was done studying and encourage them with the Scriptures and notes I had read. It dawned on me that they were leaving for a trip today and might not get my email. So, I called my mom and told her to check her email before she left. When I asked when they were leaving she said, "Oh, we're rushing around, trying to get out the door." I could tell that she was down and discouraged and that the Holy Spirit had interceded in my life on her behalf to encourage them before I left.

Well, this all took so long...doing my devotions...writing an email to my parents...calling my mom...that before I knew it, there was no way I had time to go work out. Was I frustrated?...actually, no! I kind of chucked at the Lord when I realized that He was the one who sprung my eyes open this morning at 5:30. It was not me! And when I got my workout clothes on this morning?...little did I know that that was actually for some spiritual exercise, not physical. That's ok because I feel GREAT! This morning was definitely a workout...a workout of trust, faithfulness, love, admiration, wisdom, and truth in God's Word! And...the Lord worked all that together so that not only would I be edified, but I would have time to write my parents just in time for them to print out the email and take it with them to the airport. WOW!! God is AMAZING! It was so cool.

So, "my" plans didn't go accordingly. I didn't wake up at 5:30 to accomplish it all! But, God divinely used it to speak encouragement and strength to someone else who needed it as much as I did! If I have time, I'll try to post the puritan prayer and scriptures I sent to my mom! For, now, I have to go get ready for work but I just had to share how God already used my willingness to let go of "my schedule" to bring glory to Himself through my submission and trust in Him! Praise God!!!!!! To HIM and HIM ALONE be the glory for working all these things together for our good! Now, if I could only get to work on time. Yeah, I'm going to let that one go. I will just have to work a little late tonight. But, this morning was worth it!!!!

Boring...

Well, I wish I had something more interesting to write about right now but I just don't. Life feels like it's been so hectic...and yet so stagnant. I can hardly believe it's mid-July. I keep thinking to myself, "oh, yeah, I should get this or that done by 4th of July." And then I realize, "Marci, that was like 2 weeks ago!" I keep waiting for summer to come and then I realize summer is almost over! They are already putting out school supplies for crying out loud! But, I guess that's not saying much since stores are sporting Christmas decor by October!

I will say that life has been a rollercoaster. We got back from the Grand Canyon back in April and nothing was really on the horizon. I was a little down after having such an amazing vacation and then coming back with nothing to really look forward to. It's like I blinked and now I'm here. It's just been crazy.

Just a note about my anxiety...things have been going really well but there are always ups and downs. Lately, it's been down. I attribute a lot of that to moving...although great...it's a big transition: new neighborhood, new drive, new noises, new routine. That kind of change is much harder on me than I like to admit and I'm also a perfectionist. I want to do it all and do it all right away. I want to wake up at 5:30 before the alarm even has a chance to go off, work out, have my time in the Word, eat breakfast, make a healthy lunch, and get to work just shy of 8:30. Sooooooooo....back to the real world! I've really had to learn to let go of all that.

My friend Julie and I just started setting up weekly goals for ourselves. This week, I wanted to be prepared with food everyday for work. I wanted a healthy lunch and a couple of healthy snacks. I was feeling so eager and so ready by Sunday evening. I thought, "heck! I can do more than just be prepared with lunches this week!" I crawled into bed at 8:45 after cleaning the house, grocery shopping, meal planning, unpacking boxes, laying out my workout clothes, and lunch already packed for the next day. Then....total insomnia. This has come out of nowhere for about a week and half now and I found myself so frustrated. Just a tip...the worst thing for insomnia is getting more and more frustrated...it definitely doesn't make you tired!!!

I had to email my friend Julie at our weekly appointed time to tell her about how I was doing with my goal this week. Did I get to bed early every night? No. Did I workout? Just once. Did I have everything in order? No. But I did make my lunch everyday. Life happens! And I need be ok with letting go of order. I picked something and I made that happen. If it turns out that I'm able to go workout a few times this week or wake up when my alarm goes off, great! But maybe that's something to tackle next week!

I feel so torn by this because I want to be someone who takes advantage of time, who captivates time, who doesn't let time just pass me by. But, I think in the midst of letting my schedule "rule" me, time is passing by regardless. I think I need to be ok with my calendar changing up a bit and being ok with things that just don't happen. Or, even letting go of things I have scheduled. David and I had to cancel our cable subscription when we moved. We debated what we would do for tv at our new place...cable...digital box...satellite. And I have to tell you, 6 weeks has gone by and I don't miss it! I'm sure many of you think I'm crazy and I probably would have thought I was crazy too. But, it's allowed me to take a breather and just enjoy my surroundings. It's kind of a nice vacation. Maybe I need to just enjoy that and let life fall into place a little bit...let things settle. I even started reading Jane Austin books...so fun.

Well, here I am, folding laundry, with "nothing" on my mind and out pops a blog post! I literally was planning on writing, "I have nothing to say...so boring...so sorry." But maybe it was a good time to just journal a little! Or maybe you're someone like me who feels like time is passing you by and you feel overwhelmed. Well, I encourage you to pick one thing to focus your mind on and set a goal this week for that one thing. Maybe you're someone who doesn't feel motivated or overwhelmed to do anything. Make a plan, don't let time just pass by. Finally do that one thing you've been planning on doing for such a long time.