Hannah's Heartstrings

We had an idea. We thought and talked, and discovered a way to bring this idea to life. We planned, searched, and talked a whole lot more. Then we waited, schemed and designed. I fretted and messed things up. The wonderful people around me fixed my messes. The day got closer and closer and then…
…I blinked.
Three days were like a gasp. Come and gone, a glimpse of Heaven.
The GenerationNEXT First Annual Retreat.
So many thoughts have been running through my heart over the last few days. How does one describe the beginning of something too wonderful for words? Impossible as it may be, I shall try…
Imagine God using one insignificant little girl to start a never before seen ministry, and planning an event that brought together a group of young people so likeminded in Bible doctrine that it shocked each one of them. Imagine then, putting this group of just 20 some young people together for three days…talking, laughing, studying God’s word, forming life-long friendships. Imagine the depth. Imagine the silent understanding that passed when they all looked around into each other’s eyes, knowing they’d all found the truest brothers and sisters in the world.
I was there, and its even hard for me to imagine!
To say “It was fun,” “It was awesome,” even “It was epic,” totally falls short of describing our weekend. It was so much more than that.
Really, how do you describe the depth of the fellowship of true believers, centered on the “meat” of studying God’s Word rightly divided? It’s nearly unfathomable. It’s like getting a taste of Heaven…like touching the hem of God’s robe.
I could rattle on about how much fun we had…meeting people I’d talked with online, playing Dutch Blitz, Turkey Foot and Ninja, doing archery, listening to the wonderful speakers (Dan Porath, Luke Miller and David Adams), signing autograph books, talking nearly non-stop, laughing so much my face hurt, creating inside jokes (that really was some dirty dirt!), singing, hugging, trying to stay dry, explaining how I’m not really a vegetarian, trying not to cry when saying goodbye…
But that’s the icing on the cake. Nothing can compare to the fellowship, so deep and rich.
I can’t wait till next year. :D

**Beware: This post contains the rantings and ventings of a currently rather moody girl. This post may or may not make any sense at all, and the author shall not be held responsible for any maladies the reader experiences, including dizziness, nausea, loss of sight or speech, or migraine headaches. Thank you.**

Ok, this has been bugging me for a while now. I saw a church billboard just recently that took the saying “The family that prayer together stays together” and changed it into “The family that prays together has a better chance of staying together”.
Is that not the most discouraging thing ever written? I mean, seriously…we are now leaving the idea of families staying together up to pure chance? Even with prayer?
This just makes me downright mad. Why leave it up to chance? Why is it okay for a good family to just be a chance? We’re leaving strong marriages and good families up to LUCK?
My dad always likes to say “Luck is where opportunity and preparation meet.” So if you are prepared and the opportunity comes knocking, consider yourself lucky. But you won’t be lucky if the opportunity comes and you are not prepared.
Same thing goes. Good marriages and good families don’t happen by chance. People don’t stay together by chance. Relationships don’t work out by chance.
You make it work!
Have we become such a passive, churchy, conservative people that we have forgotten how to fight?
We are told by the “good Christians” to be like Jesus, and then given a picture of Jesus, the quiet preacher, the guy that held babies and lambs, so passive and gentle. That’s the Lamb part of Jesus. But what they don’t tell you is that Jesus has another side. He is the Lamb…but He’s also the Lion. He’s the passionate, dangerous, fearsome lover and bold leader! He is the God that works the impossible! He is the Warrior, the Bravest Heart of them all!
Okay, so we’ve got the passive Lamb part down.
Now who’s going to be the Lion?
Who will shun the idea that true love and family and marriage and life and everything good and wonderful only happens by chance? Who will stand and fight?
Bad times come. We live in a fallen world. Life will not be perfect. We carry our past, the past actions and choices of our families, and anything else bad and discouraging the world tacks to our shoulders with us the rest of our lives.
But we can choose to be better. We choose to be one step better than the generation before us. And we choose to prepare the next generation to be one step better than us.
We choose to make marriage work and to make it be for life.
We choose to forgive.
We choose to show grace to those who have stumbled, and to move on.
We choose to not leave our families up to chance, but to fight and to triumph!

I never understood it. I heard people talk about “joyfully waiting”, or being content in waiting, and I always wanted it. I strove to be happy while waiting, but it never lasted. I could usually pull it off for a day or two, but then I’d be right back to my impatient grumbling and worrying. It sounded ridiculous! I nearly had myself convinced that people who said they were content waiting were making it up. How could it be possible? I couldn’t understand it and I couldn’t reach it. I began to figure I’d forever be impatient and discontent.

But that was me talking.

I understand it now.

There was a reason I couldn’t find happiness in waiting. It was simply because I was not waiting for the right things. Ever since my heart began to grow in the knowledge of things like faith and love, I’d been dodging doctrine and chasing after stories that weren’t mine.

Imagine my shock when I figured out that my story was as simple getting my heart and mind in line with God, growing in doctrine and faith, and waiting for God to show me my love story!

Peace is found, not in getting to where you think you need to be, but rather looking at each step, focusing only on that single step, and then taking the next one, and (get this!) ENJOYING each step as you take it!

Joy comes when we know what to wait for. When you find out really what God wants you to wait for, waiting becomes so much easier. When you believe that God has shown you what He wants for you, and you know that it will all turn out right and beautiful in the end…oh, what sweet satisfaction!!

God does nothing haphazardly. His purpose is right and perfect. He is not the author of confusion or discontent. Being aware of His voice and heeding it can bring only the purest of happiness!

Waiting is good for us. It teaches us what is right and what is wrong. As Michael Phillips aptly put, “In all His purposes for the world, The Creator allows time to accomplish them. Whether it be in an individual heart, in the relationships of a family, or in the history of a nation, time teaches, time heals, time strengthens, time deepens roots and gives perspective. For time is an essential element of growth and a necessary catalyst for the development of maturity and wisdom.”

I know now what it means to find unbridled joy in waiting for something you know is God’s plan. I understand it. Life makes sense. God makes sense. Even I sorta make sense!

Thank you, Sweet Jesus!

Don’t be afraid of time and of waiting. You are in the right way. Be confident that God is making everything beautiful, even if you can’t see it right now. Waiting makes everything better, deeper, and sweeter.