Sunday, October 3, 2010

No Hermits Allowed












It is important to dream. It is important to have goals. 



Yes, two very blunt statements. What brought that on, you ask. And furthermore, what do goals and dreams have with the banishment of hermits? In time.. in time. Patience. Horses should be held in until 3/4 of the way through the post. ;-) (If you have no idea of what that last statement means, ask my sister Lydia.)

I was talking to Michele and my friend Jesse and they made me realize some things about myself. The first thing that I found out was that I have always been afraid to dream for fear of not being strong enough to realize it. Or maybe it was because I wondered if my dreams were from the selfishness in my heart. 

That realization brought me to another,  my lack of faith. God places desires into our hearts. He does not place them there to make us miserable.

For instance, one of my dreams is to get married to a wonderful man and have children someday. God gave me this desire so...

What can I do to prepare myself for this time? 

1: I can learn to be content with my single status until the time comes for it to change. To be joyful in the now... this moment, not waiting for tomorrow or next year. 

2: I can learn how to become efficient with money. How to become thrifty and wise in the spending of funds. (Note: *not* a miser. Just thrifty. ;-))

3: Behave in a way to all that will glorify God and make my future husband appreciate that I'm saving myself for him. And, show my children what a true lady acts like. 

4: Become closer to God so I can teach my children about Him and be the mother I should be. 

5: Learn how to support myself (both from the home and otherwise) so I am not completely dependent on the man I marry. (Note: Unless God worked a miracle in my heart, I would not marry a man who could/would not support me.)

6: Through this all, realizing that if God wants me to wait many years or just months, I can trust that He doeth all things well. 

Some days, I am completely overwhelmed with these six things. Honestly. So I step back and close my eyes to all of them except the first one. My relationship with God takes first place over anything else. Resting in Him and learning from Him is like getting my battery recharged.  

I certainly don't have it all figured out. I'm still in the deciphering stage. Lol. But things are coming clearer and I am feeling more fulfilled and at peace. I am happy. I am no longer a hermit in a crowd waiting for life to catch up to me. (Well, maybe just a little bit of a hermit. It's kind of a fun status to hold. ;-) j/k) My newly created goals have brought me out of my shell and given me new purpose.

What are some of your goals? You don't have to answer that question out loud. But ask yourself. Especially you girls. What do you feel God wants for you? Are you preparing for it? Don't fall into the lie that girls are good for nothing but marriage and kids. Maybe God wants you to serve somewhere else. Remember Ruth and Priscilla... read Proverbs 31 again with open eyes. Deborah is almost painfully awesome for me. None of them simply sat at home and waited for life to come find them. No, some of them went and found it while others kept busy until it did find them. But none of them were unproductive.

And guys... yes, I mean you and you and you. :-) What are you doing to grow up? We need you to be men. What does God want from your life?

There is no need for us to be adrift. It isn't necessary. It isn't biblical. We need to have dreams. We need to have goals. 

Some of my other goals:
Driver's licence.
Being the best piano teacher.
Being the best pianist that my abilities will allow.
The best, most loyal, supportive friend to all my friends.
Being someone people can trust.
Keeping my eyes on God and drawing closer to Him.
Write a book. Or two. 
Compose music.
Always being involved in theater.
Being responsible in every aspect of my life.
Making time for all the children who cross my path.

I would love to read about your goals and how you are preparing... if you would like to share. :-) I am all ears!! 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is one of my dreams too...and thank you for pointing out that we need the men to be real men! =)
I certainly don't think I am only for getting married and having kids either; I know that God has a much bigger plan than just that for my life...but I'd be more than okay if He decided to bring that into my life right now! *smile*
You have great goals, and I pray that you will be able to realize them...one day at a time, right?
I really don't know what my longterm goals are, I have more short term ones. I really need a plan though; I mean marriage isn't guaranteed and I *could* houseclean forever (and it is part of ministering to others!) but I think He has more for me than just that, right?

Naomi T. said...

Jac... how many questions you're asking yourself. That is what I am doing and that is probably what every young woman and man does when they reach that point of adulthood. It's so easy to become complacent in our father's houses and forget that we could and probably do, have a purpose somewhere else. But each of our lives are different and we need to pray for our doors to be opened to us. When I was willing and ready and praying, God acted swiftly. He brought bigger and better opportunities than I had ever dreamed of. :)

:hugs: You'll find your place. :)

Galloping Guitarist said...

Very true Naomi! Obviously I would like to get married, but in the mean time I believe that it is so important to have other dreams and be working to accomplish them. As Debi Pearl put it in her book, 'Preparing To Be A Help-meet', 'run the race God has set before you, as you're running, see who is running beside you and that's who you marry.' So, so, said in my language cause I can't remember exactly how Debi put it. :-)
That book also shed light on the 'uneven yoke' thing. Everyone is always saying, don't marry a non-believer cause of the uneven yoke. Well Debi says don't marry a guy just because he's a nice Christian young man. Because you can also have the uneven yoke of two believers serving God in different fields. I believe God calls women as well as men, and that we need to make sure that when we do marry we are marrying someone who is working towards the same goal, whatever it may be.
Anyways, a very good post again dear sister! May the Lord lead you and guide you throughout your days!
Lydia

Naomi T. said...

Lyddy, I always appreciate your comments. :-) I love your wording of that quote. Can't remember how it goes either but I understand it better the way you say it. :-)

It's so important to marry someone you can be best friends with... and, as you said, share the same goals. People seem to get married for a whole myriad of reasons and forget about the most important part: serving God together.

I hope that we will be able to look back years from now and smile at our earnest worryings. God has a perfect plan for each of us.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree whole-heartely!!! I loved this post and everything you talked about really touches my heart in a special way.

We need to be ladies; daughters of the Lord and we need Men to be REAL men, sons of the Lord!!

I think it's wonderful for young women to be pursuing something besides waiting at home for their Knight to arrive. God may be calling you to do something while you're waiting! :)

Naomi T. said...

Aw, thank you, Sam. :-) I appreciate you commenting. It made my day!!

Pamela M M Berkeley said...

While I don't think we're only for getting married and having babies either, of course, I do think that in many ways our generation has been told that if you long to be a wife and mother, that's not enough. Which it can be. It's a hard job (as you'd know better than me, since my younger sibling is only two and a half years younger than me!)

But yes, getting married and having kids is a big, big dream for me. I have found the man, but we're not married yet. And I want to homeschool my kids!!

I also want to write a few books, especially novels. Writing is so important to me. I always need to write (blogging is my current favorite outlet for my writing need)

I want to have adventure. I love adventure. Not specific... if it's too planned, it's not adventure! lol

And I know God has called me to help unify the Body of Christ. Which is like my overarching purpose, but not a specific goal because He's not entirely told me how He's planning on doing that.

I also really would like to go to Regent College in Vancouver and get my Master's in Christian Studies with a concentration in Christianity and the Arts. Hopefully before I'm 35. Thinking about me makes me so happy.