Posted by

Posted on

08/31/2012

Posted under

Comments

I Refuse to Wait

My roommate and I have decided that we’ve missed half of the year. What I mean by that is, it’s the last day of August and I hardly remember experiencing the first. Thus far, 2012 has been one, big blur which is kind of disappointing amidst all my “live the journey” talk.

Because I haven’t been living the journey. I haven’t been embracing the moments like I should.

I’ve been getting caught up in the big things and allowing the rest to simply slip by. But the problem is, life isn’t comprised of the big things. It’s the little things—the everyday things—that I’m missing. And there went most of my year…

Sometimes living Beyond Waiting is easy, but lately it’s been hard. Sometimes I can lose myself in wonder without even realizing I’m doing it, but recently I’ve had to remind myself to be impressed by the little things. Recently, I’ve been repeating the phrase, “I refuse to wait.” Because living—truly living—it would seem, is a choice. And waiting—merely waiting—comes far too easily.

Time and time again, I find myself getting caught up in anticipation of the big moments, forgetting that each day is a gift. That the day I’m living right now will never be lived again. (And some days I’m thankful for that, but for the most part…)

I’ve spent most of my life waiting for tomorrow and missed far too many todays.

But right now, in this moment, I have a chance to change that pattern. I can choose not to spend my time waiting. I can turn my mind from future worries and live—simply live—today.

God gives me a handful of moments and it’s up to me to decide if I’m going to cradle them to my chest or watch them fall around my feet.

Today, I can boldly say that I refuse to wait, as I take my first step toward embracing wonder anew.

Posted by

Rebekah Roper

Posted on

11/18/2011

Posted under

Heartfelt Prayers

Comments

1 Comment

Sometimes…

To the One Who Came to Free Prisoners,

Sometimes I look out at the mountains and forget that they’re a reflection of how big You are. Sometimes I watch the clouds drift by on the canvas of the sky and fail to see the proof that You’re still creating beautiful things. Sometimes I watch the seasons change without realizing that they’re a reminder that You’re in control. Sometimes I forget that every single day I wake up breathing is a gift. Sometimes I forget to live the journey. And by sometimes, I mean most times.

I don’t mean to seem ungrateful; it’s just that I find it so easy to forget – so easy to allow myself to get caught up in the mundane and weighed down in the trivial. But I don’t want to spend the rest of my life this way.

Today… Today I want to see. I want to live. I want to embrace each moment as they come.

So if You don’t mind, I’m asking You to open up my eyes and help me embrace the wonder of this moment here and now. And the moment after that. And the moment after that. Until I am, at last, fully and wonderfully alive.

Posted by

Rebekah Roper

Posted on

10/23/2010

Posted under

Live the Journey

Comments

6 Comments

Before You Make Him Mine

It has been over ten months since I’ve prayed a heartfelt, in-depth prayer for my future husband. That may seem crazy to you as it does seem to go against every book you’ll find on waiting for Prince Charming. I thought I was crazy myself, at first. But it can’t be any more crazy than how crazy I felt back when I was faithfully praying for my knight in shining armor. I didn’t stop praying because I got the impression that the man I will one day marry is above falling, but because I know how prone I am to fall myself. When I was consistently praying for my future husband, I was constantly thinking about him. And because I thought of him so often, I got to a point where I wasn’t content with living without him. That’s why I dropped the specific prayers. That’s why I shredded the list of things I wanted in a husband. Maybe it’s the novelist in me, but when I write a guy out on paper, he becomes real and eventually becomes all I think about. But he shouldn’t be all I think about during this stage of my life. That’s why when it comes to this delicate subject of waiting, I decided to, well, stop waiting. If I’m going to live in this moment here and now, I can’t be dwelling on a future with him.

I told my mom that she is simply going to have to pray twice as hard because I can’t offer those deep, intercessory prayers that I’ve been advised to pray. I find them to be detrimental to my emotional health. Yes, I have those moments like the one I had ten months ago. Sometimes I get the compelling urge to pour my heart out in prayer for this man I have yet to know. I don’t ignore those urges. In those types of moments, I pray long and hard. But as far as the daily moments when I find my mind turning to thoughts of Prince Charming, I offer this simple prayer: “God, make him the man You want him to be before You make him mine.”

That’s it. I think it pretty much covers all of the basics. God knows the heart behind that simple prayer. He knows what it truly means. He knows that it is so much more than that simple statement. He knows that, truly, it’s a repeat of the much longer, specific prayer I prayed ten months ago. When I whisper that one simple line, I believe God hears the 28 other lines I had penned leading up to that closing statement. And because I know He hears the words I choose to leave unspoken, the thought of “happily ever after” drifts from my mind as quickly as it came and I am free to embrace the moment that has been handed to me here and now.

This is how I’ve been able to dance through the moments of my life as a single girl. It works for me. And it may work for you. Then again, it may not. After all, dreaming up a list of who I thought my future husband should be certainly didn’t work for me. But if you’re really struggling with the fantasy playing on repeat in your mind, I’d encourage you to give it a try. Shred your list, quiet your mind, and whisper these words:

“God, make him the man You want him to be before You make him mine.”

Posted by

Rebekah Roper

Posted on

10/02/2010

Posted under

Live the Journey

Comments

Extraordinary Mundane Moments

Sometimes I wonder how to encourage people to embrace the ordinary moments in life. I’m pretty sure no one is simply waiting for me to tell them about the mundane moments of my day. But what I hope touches your heart as deeply as it touches mine are the moments when God shows up and makes something extraordinary out of my ordinary, mundane moments. I had one of those moments today.

I was planning to finish a significant amount of writing this afternoon, but as we all know, things rarely turn out as we expect. And since my mind was somewhere else entirely, well… I didn’t write at all today (unless you count the rewriting of the poem that has been pounding in my brain for the past 24 hours). What I did do was start feeling a little artistic, dig through all my photographs from the past four years, and meticulously edit and form them into a masterpiece. Four hours and 22 pictures later, my masterpiece was completed, but I felt as if I had wasted my entire afternoon.

But God didn’t agree. “Rebekah,” He gently reprimanded. “This is a beautiful form of worship.”

Worship? Is that really what I was doing? Was meditating on a poem about the greatness of my God and forming it into something that would serve as a continual reminder, truly a form of worship? The way God’s Presence saturated my living room in that moment left little room for argument.

What I experienced today was an extraordinary mundane moment. And I almost missed it. In fact, I think we miss them most of the time because they don’t fit into our agendas. God tends to show up in the little things that we didn’t plan on experiencing – probably because we otherwise don’t leave enough time for God in our days. But when I take a step back from my plans and agendas, the only thing I can say is this: “Giver of Abundant Life, what a glorious day to embrace the mundane with You.”