Waiting is hard... like really hard by Mrs. Heidi Noel Lawton

Waiting is hard, like really hard. It’s never easy to watch your friends and family members advance in work, school, or romantic relationships, while nothing seems to be happening in those areas for you. 

Take it from me… I'm 27 years old, and I just celebrated my first year of being married. After two failed serious relationships, and only having gone out on a few dates here and there, I can honestly tell you that I wasn't sure I would ever be able to celebrate any sort of marriage anniversary. I had just figured that I was supposed to be alone for the rest of my life. I felt as though something was wrong with me. Maybe there was a reason that I couldn't find the right man, or maybe there was a reason why my relationships usually ended in a bad way. My heart was sad and at times bitter, but it was during that season of waiting that God taught me a good deal about myself and about how to wait. 

1. Pray that God will keep your heart and mind in His perfect peace during this time. He knows you are struggling, but His love is there, and He will help ease your struggle.
2. Be thankful for this time! WHAT?! Did I seriously just say to be THANKFUL? Yep, I sure did. God knows what He is doing at all times! There is a reason for this season of waiting. Maybe He wants to show you how special you truly are right at this moment!
3. Patience is key. I always disliked it when people told me to be patient, but once I actually started to listen to this advice, I really did feel better. The wait may be long, but patience is the one thing that will sustain you through it.
4. Pray for your future husband. He may be struggling trying to find you, and he may be frustrated, too! Pray that he can seek the Lord, so that he can then seek you. (My husband wrote a letter to me before he even knew who I was, expressing his sadness and struggle to find me. He prayed that God would bring us together soon! He gave me this letter after we got married.)
5. Let go and let GOD! God has plans for your life that will unfold according to His timing. Set your eyes on God, and you will find your husband when He says you’re ready! Just because you think you're ready doesn't mean you really are, or maybe your husband isn't ready yet!
6. Surround yourself with the right people who will pray for you and listen to your heart when the wait gets a little harder.
7. Celebrate where your friends and family are in their relationships! Avoid allowing jealousy to settle in your heart. Thank God for answering the prayers of your friends, and let that encourage you in your own relationships. Sometimes the relationships of those around us are some of the best examples of what we can have in our future relationships.
8. You are not your mistakes. The right man will look past any previous mistakes that may have happened. He will see you as God sees you. Just remember that just because you did something in your past doesn't mean you have to repeat it either!
9. Girl, it isn't you. If a man cannot commit to you fully the way God intended, that is on him! If he is cheating on you, that is on him. Know your worth!
10. Remember who you are. You are the daughter of a king! That makes you a princess! Don't settle for the court jester; you wait for your prince! 

Once I started to do the things I listed above, and I really thought about how much the Lord had already blessed me with my family, my performing arts studio, and some wonderful friends, I stopped worrying about IF I would ever meet someone. Instead, I got excited about WHEN I would meet someone. Still praying to the Lord about finding my husband, I started enjoying where I was in life! It also helped having a good foundation of family and close friends to confide my feelings. With their support, the difficulty of the wait no longer consumed my heart like it once had.

Living in a small town, meeting a nice Christian man wasn't an easy task. So, one day, I decided to go on an online Christian dating site (I had tried before with no luck). Before I signed on, I remember saying, “Lord, if I'm supposed to meet someone here, I will before my membership expires this month.” Well, a few days later, I started talking to my now husband, Benjamin. This was the first real Christian relationship I had ever had, and let me tell you, it was worth the wait. It was worth the nights of feeling lonely or like something was missing; it was worth every bad relationship or date (I personally think those times in my life were meant to happen to teach me some things—both good and bad); it was worth letting go and letting God do His thing. The Lord brought us together when the time was right; not because I thought it was right, but because He knew it was.

Ladies, it can be so hard to wait, but once you actually let go of your ideas of how you think your life is supposed to look, you can actually feel the Lord work inside you and guide you to exactly where He wants you. We are so lucky to have an amazing Heavenly Father looking out for His princesses!

Blessings,

-Heidi

About the Author

Mrs. Heidi Noel Lawton currently reside in Nunda, New York. She is a performing arts studio owner along with being a teacher at her studio!

In her spare time Heidi enjoys running OCR’s (obstacle course races), trail runs, hiking, and anything outdoors!