Greetings!

I hope and pray that 2016 has started off with much excitement and a renewed energy for your life's goals, dreams, and aspirations!  I hope and pray that you are focused and doing all that you can to THRIVE!   And I hope and pray that your desire to grow in the knowledge of our Lord is your highest priority!

Friends, a new year is a new beginning.  New beginnings are opportunities to start over, make amends, get on track, moving in a direction that hopefully is better and more productive than before.  New beginnings  are opportunities to rediscover your purpose and reignite your passion to live your best life.  New beginnings are opportunities for fresh ways of seeing God's movement in your life and for embracing God's will for your life.  A new year is a new beginning.  And a new beginning is full of potential, hope, and promise of brighter days ahead.  

But, BlogFam, do not get anxious or restless or overly frustrated by one inevitable reality that comes with every new beginning... the waiting period.  For with every new beginning, there is a waiting period.  I just want you to know that now.  I do not want you to be blindsided  or caught off guard or feel tricked by the waiting period.  I want you to know up front that there will be a waiting period at the point of every new beginning.

Think about it.  When you begin a new job or a new relationship or move into a new house, there is a waiting period.  We wait for all paperwork to be processed.  We wait for the first phone call.  We wait for the keys to be handed over.  Waiting is an inevitable reality that comes with every new beginning.  

We wait for yes.  We wait for no.  We wait for maybe.  And I love you all too much to let you think that your new beginning will not carry you through a period of waiting.  As fast as you want to jump right in and get things going, at some point, you will have to wait.

And waiting does not necessarily mean that there is something wrong or someone has lied or that circumstances have changed.  It could mean one or none of those things but either way, you will be waiting.  And waiting is good.  I know that you may not want to hear that.  We want everything quick, fast, and in a hurry OR we at least want it to happen in what we personally deem a reasonable period of time that we would consider a quick turnaround in line with our own level of patience.  I know that there are times when I have to wait and in my own mind, I have consciously or unconsciously set a "deadline" for something to happen or for someone to respond, etc.  And that may or may not have been communicated, but that clock is ticking in my head.  What about you?  Let's be honest.   I know we all do.  Even the most laid back of personalities is doing that mental check in that we all do, even if nothing is said.  

And then we still have to wait.

But waiting is good.  Waiting in some respects gives us time to process, to further investigate, to pray, to step back before we engage in something or with someone that with more time have decided is not the best for our lives.  Waiting is good.  Waiting is kind of like a grace period that humbles us and reminds us that we are human and convicts us that God's timing is not our timing.   Waiting is good.  And at some point I hope you recall that someone has, is, or will have to wait for you.  

Friends, EVERYBODY has to wait.  Waiting comes with every new beginning.   Therefore, since we love new beginnings, starting over, starting fresh, we must come to terms with the waiting period that will follow.

So, do not let your waiting be in vain!  Embrace your waiting period as you never have before!  Reprogram your thinking about waiting.  Develop a strategy for what you will do while you wait.  And encourage yourself in your next waiting period.  Above all, TRUST GOD and know this...

GOD LOVES YOU and I DO TOO!

Blessings! Glory! And Sunshine!

Delesslyn