Author: Gabrielle

Breathe

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Breathe…Go on…Take a deep breath, hold it for 5 seconds, and then slowly let it out.  Now do that 5 times.

Now doesn’t that feel better.

I have a bad habit of not taking enough time to stop and breathe. I do not take enough time to slow down and focus on the important things in life. I jump from one activity to the next. Whether it is work, church, family, friends, random events… They all catch my attention. None of these things are bad or things that I think I should have less of in my life but it makes me need to prioritize. Sometimes I get caught up in wanting to do the most that I can, that sometimes it can cause a problem.  I feel like this is a problem that a lot of us have.

If you don’t take the time to actually slow down and breathe once in a while you will burn out. You need to be able to say no to the responsibilities and distractions and just rest for a little bit (and not feel guilty about it).

So go ahead. Slow down and breathe. Take that time to push the distractions away and focus on God. Thank Him for what He has done, tell Him how you feel, and ask Him for strength for the rest of your day.

~Gabrielle

Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Trusting Him in the Waiting

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Do you trust Me when My answer is to wait?

I saw that quote on Pinterest recently and it got me thinking. Right now, I am in a season of waiting. Waiting to figure out what my next steps are. Waiting to figure out pretty much everything about my future.  Waiting to be settled in my job. Waiting to find my spouse. Just waiting.

I graduated nursing school in December 2015 and am now working in my second job as a Registered Nurse.  I worked in critical care but realized that this was not the area of nursing for me. So now I work in a doctors office. I started this job a little over two months ago, so I  am still learning everything and trying to get settled in with this job. It’s not easy and there are days that I question if this is where I am supposed to be. But I know it is part of the process and I will eventually be comfortable and settled in this job.

I am 23 and single. I guess I always pictured myself being married close to the time I graduated college. And clearly that didnt happen, which is perfectly fine, because it wasn’t Gods timing. But this is something that I think about often, and an area of my life that just feel “unsettled”. I feel like this is one of the next logical steps in life, but have to learn to trust God’s timing and that since it has not happened yet, it has not been His will.

So far this year, I have been learning about waiting and trusting. God knows what He is doing and what will happen. His ways are not my ways.  If things happened on my timetable, nothing would have turned out like it has now.  I would not have had the chance to realize that God is teaching me patience and trust. While these are hard lessons to learn they are very valuable lessons.

There are things that I have been praying for over the last 3 years that God is still telling me to wait, to trust, and to not give up hope.  He will work miracles, in HIS timing. NOT mine. All I have to do is trust and keep on walking by faith.

Learning to wait and trust is not easy. I like to know what is going to happen and when.  I like to have things all planned out. But at some point I have have to realize that I have to let go and let God work.  This is an ongoing process and is something that I work on daily.

So. Do you trust Him, even when His answer is to wait?

~Gabrielle

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! (Psalms 27:14 ESV)

For God alone, O my sould, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. (Psalms 62:5 ESV)

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. (Lamentations 3:25 ESV)

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:25 ESV)

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they sheall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31 ESV)

Introducing Me

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For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

I have adopted this as my life verse.  Over the last couple of years, I have come to realize that we are to move out of faith and not because we are comfortable or know each step that we think we are supposed to take in life.  God knows what He is doing and I do not have to do anything other than to follow where He is guiding me to go.  I do not have to know what will happen with my job, my future family, my finances, what my life will look like 15 years from now, or even what will happen tomorrow.  ALL I have to do is trust and start walking where He guides me to go.

Now this is definitely not easy for me to do.  I like to have control over what happens and I like to have a general idea of what is going to happen that way I can plan accordingly. I am learning to “Let go and let God”.

Life is one giant uncertain mess. Things do not always happen the way I would like. I have been through  (and still am going through) a lot of pain and trials in my 23 years of living. I have seen a lot of death and sickness in my personal life as well as my professional life, which takes its toll on you.  It makes you want to control the things you can because you know that one day, it will all be gone.  But I am learning that this is not how God wants me to live, He wants me to give it all to Him and trust him for my every need. The only thing I need to do is trust the One who knows everything and planned it all from before time began.

All of this to say that I wanted to start writing a blog called: “A Walk By Faith”. I want to write down the things that I am learning in my walk of faith so that I can look back and remember, but also that maybe I can be of encouragement to someone who is learning some of the same lessons I am.  So let’s learn to walk by faith together.

~Gabrielle