It’s Friday evening (okay, technically ‘night’ since it’s about 10PM)…finally.

This day.  This day was LONG.  I was ready to crawl into bed as soon as I got home from work but decided to grab coffee instead so I had enough energy to do a little yard work before it got dark.  I am SO glad I did.  My plan is to work on my yard tomorrow while I try to get some sun on this pasty skin, but it’s always nice to work in the cool of the day – and it also helped me feel more productive and I won’t have as much to get done tomorrow.

After I worked on my yard for a bit, I took a lawn chair and some water out to the front porch so I could start reading “Quitter” by Jon Acuff.  I’m only through the first chapter so can’t give a full opinion, but so far I am loving it.  The subtitle is, “Closing the gap between your day job and your dream job”….ummmm, yes please.

If you didn’t already know, I am sort of addicted to Instagram (username: @stormierhoades) – I can’t help myself.  I took this photo while I was out reading and I posted it.  The sun was on the verge of setting but there was still a faint light lingering.  I had to use an effect that would add some light because it was getting pretty dark already.

A few minutes later, the sun broke back through the clouds and it was the warmest and most brilliant light.  I looked up from my book and I knew right away, I should have waited.  I posted the photo too early – I missed the glory of the sun as I sat relaxing on my porch.  If I would have just waited a few minutes longer, just 200 seconds – this would have been the one:

This is not a contrived lens flare, this is the real deal.  This is exactly what it looked like when I took the time to stop paying attention to the words in front of me and take in the glory around me.  I don’t know about you, but the second photo is breathtaking to me – and the first one pales drastically in comparison.

I know it seems silly to make such a serious commentary on Instagram photos, but it’s really not about that.  It’s about the place I am at in life.  The waiting point.  I have been so frustrated in the last few months, trying to figure out what my next step in life is.  After my sister moved out, I began this weird transitional period where nothing is comfortable and I feel out of place.  I have been trying to figure out what to do with my time and where to go from here.  I have felt like my close friendship base has been very small – in that I don’t know a lot of people that are in the same situation as I am (same age-ish/single/figuring things out).  And because I have The German at home, I can’t be out all the time and leaving her so I spend a lot of time at home alone.  Whenever I talk about the fact that I don’t do much with people, the response is always, “well you have the dog” and while I know that people are kidding (sort of)….it just really isn’t the same talking to a dog that doesn’t talk back.  Not that I would want her to talk back, but you know what I mean.

Now, before you start thinking this is a pity-Stormie post, it is not.  I am not asking those of you reading this that live close to me to try to keep me busy.  I am a busy person as it is and I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me – because I don’t.  I’m realizing more and more and the Lord has been revealing to me that I am exactly where He wants me to be.  As hard as that is sometimes (certain days more than others), it is liberating at the same time.  Right now, in this place in life, He wants me to wait on Him.  I have no idea what I am waiting for, but if the above photos are any indication, I know it’s going to be something great – something breathtaking.

Everyday, I have to remember that waiting on the Lord does NOT mean sitting impatiently, tapping my foot and wondering what the crap is going on.  Waiting on the Lord means that I am expectantly perched on the edge of my seat, in anticipation of the glory and goodness that He will reveal in His timing.  Man, I am not good at that sometimes.

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.  You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors.  So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely.  Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.“ – James 1:2-4 The Message

I don’t want to prematurely snap the picture of my life.  I don’t want to “get out of” this place of being uncomfortable and of being ‘alone’ just because it isn’t fun sometimes.  I could easily jump the gun and force all kinds of changes and new things but I know that’s not what the Lord wants from me.  I know that I am feeling this way, that I am living this way for a reason.

It’s funny sometimes how things happen.  My plan was to throw these photos up tonight and say, “Geez, look at the cool photo I got but I had already posted the first one.  Boohoo”.  It wasn’t until I started writing this post that all my thoughts came together and formed what this now is.  It wasn’t until I uploaded the photos to begin writing that I realized the Lord is always speaking and He is always confirming His words over and over again, even through something as silly as the Instagram photos I captured.

Waiting does not always feel exciting, but it is definitely giving me joy tonight as I hope in the Lord and expectantly anticipate His next move.  Gorgeous things are coming…glorious things are coming – so I am okay with the wait.