12. Praise

My 31 Free Writes for October play out like a serial love story in an old time magazine. It’s the saga of a young woman and how God leads her to the love of her life. Each day offers new developments in a romance only the Lord could write.

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God is the one who puts the ‘extra’ in the ordinary. We never know when it’s coming. But when it does…..hoo-boy. It’s time to get your praise on!

It had been just about two months since I mad the acquaintance of this twinkly-eyed man who patiently conversed with me after our Psychology 101 class. 60 days may seem like a short time to know someone, and yet, if God has drawn you together the connection is undeniable. I’ll admit that in my mind was a running dialogue I had with myself to not jump ahead and make plans with a guy who hadn’t invited me to spend the rest of my life with him. That would be silly. I am silly.

What happened in those two months was a sharing of life together. I had come to be a part of his youth ministry, assisting in leading the girls and helping with music. There was one young lady who had some family issues and needed to talk with Vicar Dave (yeah, I didn’t know what it meant either at the beginning) about how to deal with her father and plans for her future.

David was great at counseling the kids but he felt that I would have a unique perspective on this issue. One evening he invited Patty and me to his office for a time to talk and pray. He sat behind his desk and watched while Patty shared her heart and I listened, interjecting my thoughts and observations. After we’d prayed together and said good-bye to Patty, David asked me what I thought the next step should be.

I paused for a bit, opened my mouth to answer, when he blurted out, “Will you be my wife?”

Hello? What was that? Someone had switched the script and forgotten to give me the memo.

I blinked and stared at this hunky Lutheran boy. “What did you say?”

“Uh…YES!” was my exuberantly befuddled reply.

A wry smile grew on that cute face. “You hesitated. Maybe you’re not sure.”

I faced him nose to nose and challenged back with, “You interrupted me when I was trying to answer YOUR question. Check your watch and try it again!” Response time was .01 seconds.

Silently praising God for this answer to my fervent prayer, I asked why he had chosen that particular moment to propose.

He confessed that he had wanted to propose for a while but knew that would mean asking me to partner with him in ministry. He had seen firsthand how challenging the life of a pastor’s wife can be as he witnessed his mother dealing with people and church issues. David needed to see a genuine love for people and their messiness in me before he would take the chance on a formal invitation for life in the ministry fish bowl.

We were both waiting on God to show us the next step.

In the waiting you’re challenged to dwell where you are, cultivate faithfulness, and praise the Lord while He prepares the future.

Are you waiting on God for the next step?

How are you living abundantly right where you are in the mean time?

How are you reaping a bounty of faithfulness in your relationship with Him?
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Psalm 71:14 But as for me, I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more.

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