Patience.

Patience. Oh yea. That word. At 23 (almost!) one would think I knew a thing or two about Patience. But quite frankly, I don't.

Why? You may ask. First, let me clarify exactly what I am talking about when I say I do not have patience. I do not have patience with myself, my life, and where it is going. Where God is taking it.

I have patience with my little twinzies, of course. They can scream at the top of their lungs, jump up and down on me and the couch, one pulling my arm one way saying, "Whitney, trains" while the other is pulling the other side of me saying, "Whitney, bikes" and I remain calm... not even an ounce of increased tension. Of this kind of patience I am trained.

But when it comes to ME, to MY life, I want it RIGHT NOW. And don't get me wrong, I'm not picking on myself... I am aware that we all want gratification (or those new Urban Outfitters fall boots)... RIGHT NOW. We don't want to save, we don't want to eat right and exercise every day to lose that weight (well, some of us... others seemed to have gotten that down pat)... either way, we all want, what we want, when we want it.

Unfortunately, I am like this a little to the extreme. I WANT to know who I am MARRYING... more precisely, I would like to meet him today. I want to know what my future career is... better yet, I want to start it today! (Which means, writing books and touring the country speaking to younger girls about purity.. and maybe once I get this whole patience thing down... that too.)

I want to be able to run 13.1 miles without stopping so when April 30th comes, I can run the Country Music Half Marathon.

I want to be in complete awe of my God, worshipping him every second of every day... without giving in to temptations to drink, listen to awful music, watch awful things on tv... and for me, myself, to not say/think/act in any wrongful way. (Of this I know is impossible, we are all sinners, we will in fact sin until we go to Heaven... but I am really hard on myself about it.)

So you know what God did for me and my lack of patience? On Friday, my daily blog (http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/) gave me the message I yearned for. That God knew I needed to read. It is entitled "There are No Shortcuts to Anyplace Worth Going"

Thank you Lord.

So what did I learn? I learned there are ways to get to these things that I want so badly.

Husband? Well, the one God made for me I probably (definitely) won't find: in a bar, in Athens, Stone Mountain, or Madison- where I go to meet up with my friends and family on the weekends because I don't know anyone here in Atlanta. But where? Oh yea, probably (most definitely) at Buckhead Church, through their ministries, volunteering, or the worship group for singles. Places that glorify God... since I want a husband who loves Jesus as much or more than I do.

Career? First, finish that education, baby. It's that easy.

Run 13.1? Get your hiney out there and run every day. Push yourself. Ask God for strength. Be mentally strong. Your body can do it. Believe in yourself.

Worship and "sinless"? First of all, you will not be sinless... but you will "sin less" when you are guarding what comes into your heart through your eyes and ears. When you constantly worhip God through prayer, song, reading Christian books, church, MEETING PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING THE SAME THING... meaning STOP BEING SCARED TO GO TO BUCKHEAD CHURCH FUNCTIONS BY YOURSELF! I mean, when have you ever been nervous to talk to someone? Hello. :) Then it will be easier to stay in Atlanta, avoid temptation, have friends here in Atlanta...

And above all else and more importantly than what is mentioned above: TRUST IN THE LORD. BE STILL AND KNOW HE IS GOD. LET GO AND LET GOD. HAVE FAITH, WHITNEY. Do you not know God created this world? He gave us life? He did more than our brains can humanly acknowledge, digest, or understand. MEANING: He can answer YOUR prayers, he can take care of YOU. He hears you. He is with you. He loves you. He wants you to be happy. He wants to fulfill the desires of your Heart...

BE PATIENT.