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Moments for Mom
By Elisabeth Corcoran, Author of Calm in My Chaos.
May 2007
I read recently that sometimes God is waiting on us to make a move and
sometimes we're waiting on God. This moment in time of my life could be
characterized by three words --- grateful, unclear, waiting. In a few huge
areas of my life, I am waiting on God, and sometimes others, to make a move.
My husband and I are considering moving. We live in a great house that I
love but it's showing its age (it's 90+ years old). We have found one
house...just one...that we both like enough to even consider moving (we both
hate moving). Though my husband wants to move a bit more than I do and
likes this new house a bit more than I do, it has some major pros that I
can't deny. Like a pond in the backyard. And a deck. And a gazebo. And a
nice big yard. And a balcony off the master bedroom. Did I mention the
pond? And you have to take back roads to get to it. But yet, I don't want
to move just because we can. I want to make sure that this is from God.
So, the owners aren't accepting our offer until we have a contract on our
house. And the market is slow or dry or whatever it's called. So we're
just waiting...waiting on God to see if this is a gift from Him or if where
we're at right now is where we should stay. Waiting on God.
I want to go to Africa. Desperately. My heart has been captured by a place
that I've never seen and I want to spend some time there. Step one was
"permission" from my husband to be away for about two weeks. It's a huge
thing because that much time away from the family is a big deal, as you can
imagine, and a trip like that can cost a pretty penny. He has been very
supportive of this "hobby" of mine lately and he gave me the go-ahead. The
kind of trip I want to take is not the kind that can be arranged like a
Sandals package with a travel agent, though. This is no safari I'm
interested in. My window of time is small (summer only) and my intent is
focused (to investigate potential partnerships for the church I'm on staff
with). There are a ton of details and most of this kind of trip would have
to be a God-thing, so I find myself wondering again, is this something God
wants to do in my life? Waiting on God.
I have written book three. It is sitting here on my hard drive. I am
looking for a publisher as best as I know how. This book came out of the
hardest year of my life and it was one of those experiences where I pretty
much felt God writing through me. It was one of the easiest writing
projects I've ever had. As some of you know, this was a crisis that was
more my husband's story than mine, but again, he granted me permission to
tell my version of his story and I'm so grateful. But I wonder again, is
this something God wants to bring to pass? Waiting on God.
I am a doer by nature. This season of waiting for God to move has been hard
for me, but in a good way. Stretching. Faith building. I heard author,
Larry Crabb say that God moves slowly, but his timing is perfect. A verse
that I came across recently really hit home for me. Psalm 138:8 says that
The Lord will perfect all that which concerns me. These three things
concern me. They are weighing on me. They are the desires of my heart.
The Lord already knows the outcome of each. The Lord is the only one who
can perfect each area. And perfection takes time...it's not an overnight
process.
Do you find yourself waiting on someone, waiting on God? Ask Him to meet
you in the waiting. I believe God is much more concerned about the journey,
the process, than the outcome. Ask Him to move in you during this time, to
move you closer to Him in the waiting. And let's see together what beauty
He will bring out of his perfecting.
Copyright © Elisabeth K. Corcoran, 2007. Elisabeth K. Corcoran is the author of "In Search of Calm: Renewal for a Mother’s Heart" (2005), "Calm in My Chaos: Encouragement for a Mom's Weary Soul" (2001), which can be purchased directly through her publisher, Kregel Publications at #1-888-644-0500 or kregel.com, Amazon.com, chrbook.com, familychristian.com, or through your local Christian bookstore. She is wife to Kevin, and mom to Sara and Jack. Her passion is encouraging women and she fulfills that through serving in leadership on staff part-time at Blackberry Creek Community Church in Aurora, IL and writing and speaking as much as she can. Reprinted with permission.
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