Waiting Well

This past weekend, I went to the Proverbs 31 Ministries "She Speaks" Conference in Concord, NC to soak in as much information as I could on the writer's track. I haven't been nervous or felt out of my comfort zone in a while, but the moment I walked into the lobby, I thought What am I doing here? I should just turn around and go home! But I stayed and I'm glad I did, even though I was a basket of nerves the whole weekend. I learned a ton, met women with similar passions, and even met published authors and publishers.

I spent the drive home praying through one question: What now? I have been writing for almost two years (hopefully having gotten better at it through practice), learned how to write a book proposal, published a few articles, and now I'm freelance writing for a local (Charlottesville) magazine. After a weekend of talk concerning publishing, marketing, building a platform, etc., my tendency is 1) to worry and 2) to think of all the things I need to do to make things happen for myself. I could make out a huge to-do list and get to work checking it off one-by-one, which doesn't guarantee anything will happen anyway or..

I can wait well.

I can trust that the Lord is sovereign and both His "yes" and His "no" and His "not yet" are for my good and protection.

I can put away selfish ambition and vain conceit and humble myself before the Lord.

I can focus on what I have been given to do and do it excellently.

I can seek the Lord, that He'd give me discernment about what to write and how to honor Him in it.

Waiting patiently is not my forte. But if there is one thing I've learned from church planting, it's that my job is to abide in Christ and to trust that He will do as He pleases. He grows. He blesses. He makes things happen. Not me, as much as I think I have control of my life.

I can rest and wait (and write!) knowing those truths.