Hard Day Leads to Reflection

I'm having a rough day....throwing myself a pity party...having a bad attitude. With every contraction (and there are many at this point) I get my hopes up. I try to stay busy to keep my mind from worrying, but to no avail. Kyle's schedule is getting busier and I worry about how he will handle all of his work responsibilities and having a newborn at home. I worry he won't get to truly bond with her because he won't be around. I know his 1st priority is his family but with so much going on at the office I worry he will be beyond stressed and tired. I worry Sawyer will be a MESS because daddy won't be around to play with. I worry there will be too much going on with too many people in our house over the next few weeks and I might just have a meltdown (pretty much counting on @ least one).

Everyday I find myself pleading with God to make today her birthday. And with each passing day I get more anxious. Each day we hit a self-imposed deadline. Like tomorrow the first wave of players arrive or Saturday is the first day of practice. I keep praying "Lord please let her come before..." and then in the next breath "Lord your timing is perfect, please help me wait patiently. I vacillate between wanting what is most convenient for us and knowing God has perfect timing.

Today at lunch after voicing my concerns to Kyle for the 800th time he suggested we pray as a family and I was once again reminded that God has a plan for this little girl and she will arrive according to His perfect timing. Funny sidenote: during the family prayer/hug Sawyer started blowing his whistle really loudly. Nothing like a toddler to lighten the mood :)

Soon after Kyle went back to work and Sawyer laid down for a nap. So, for the next few hours I have some quiet time and I knew I needed to get into the Word, but in my own self-pity I couldn't think of anything to read or reflect on. Thus I decided to let God work through Google :) and He didn't disappoint. I ran across this blog post which then led me to read Daniel 9-10. While the blog post has no specific references to waiting for a baby it was a great reminder to pray for understanding (not my own selfish desires) and to humble myself before the Lord (instead of demanding answers). Prayer is beneficial, God does hear our prayers, and if I continue to pray with a right heart my desires will fall in line with God's will and thus my faith grows.

As I continued to reflect and read a few other articles about waiting on the Lord I realized that the ability to wait on the Lord begins with a confidence and focus on who God is and in what God is doing. I must believe and have confidence in God's wisdom, love, and timing, not just in the big things (global matters) but also in the small things (our personal situation). To further develop my ability to wait on the Lord I must know and trust God's principles, promises, purposes, and power. This may seem elementary, but over the next few days as I wait for the baby to arrive and strive to patiently wait on the Lord's timing I am going to focus on reading about God's promises, purposes, and power. Hopefully this little study will help me next time I face a "waiting on the Lord's timing" situation.

Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him...

Psalms 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him...

Psalms 37: 34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

Any scripture suggestions to help me (and others) learn to wait on the Lord?