Wax on, wax off

  The past few days, I have been pretty giddy.  Jesus is just teaching me so much and proving Himself  to me in so many ways.  There are so many things I want to write about that He's been teaching me, but I guess I'll try to stick with one for today ;)  This is going to be a pretty short blog, nothing too enlightening, but its just something that I thought was a really cool lesson!

     For some reason, I wasn't able to sleep much last night.  Just one of those nights where I couldn't fall asleep.  I started thinking about life.  This summer has been pretty crazy.  I have questioned circumstances, why God's having me do the things I've been doing and why He has placed me where He has.

     Last night something really cool clicked.  I am a visual learner and I love when something practical  clicks in a different way.  I started thinking about the Karate Kid, odd I know.  But, I was remembering the "wax on, wax off" theme.  "Wax on, wax off.  Breathe in the nose, out the mouth." What the instructor was telling him to do did not make sense.  He was doing the same repetitive task that seemingly had nothing to do with Karate.  The kid got a little ticked, as would I if I were trying to learn Karate, but the instructor really did know what he was doing.  Every practical thing, like waxing a car, was helping develop the characteristics that he needed to become great in Karate.

     I feel like God has me in a "wax on, wax off" stage in my life.  I want to travel the world, I want to get married someday, I want to be a missionary, I want to be a teacher, I feel called to be in ministry. That being said, I am nowhere near ready.  There are so many areas that God still needs to work on in my life.  Even when I look back on things that I haven't understood this summer, I can see where He has used the unexpected things to build faith, trust, hope and perserverance.  He has used the "wax on, wax off" things in my life to build character and mold me into the woman He created me to be.  He never lets us go through any season in life, even hard ones, without using them to shape and mold us into who He wants us to be.

Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

 I serve an AMAZING God.  Everything He has me do or go through, even things that I don't get, is for a purpose.  They are for my good.  I encourage whoever happens to read this to wholeheartedly embrace the "wax on, wax off" seasons you go through.  They can end up being something really beautiful.