Guest Post- Marshalls Abroad

Hi sweet friends! I have another special guest post for you today from Mrs. Amanda Marshall over at Marshalls Abroad. I recently came across her blog and just fell in love with her and Cam's story, the photography, her heart and possibly a little bit of envy of the opportunity her and Cam have been given to live in a beautiful country! Enjoy her post on Waiting. It's a powerful one. -xoxo

Waiting

If you had told me four years ago I'd leave my home in California to take a job at Fox News Channel in Washington, DC because while in Annapolis I'd fallen completely in love - at first sight - to the most handsome man in the Marine Corps.. and then we'd get married & move to a subtropical island in Japan.... I would have laughed. hard!

But it's quite literally how God answered some of my biggest prayers as of yet in life.

Isn't it funny how He answers you in HIS way - far better and more exciting than the ideas you were asking for yourself??

{Okinawa, Japan}

I think one of the more challenging things in life is waiting.

If we're counting, I prayed and waited for about ten years before marrying Cameron. It hit me around the age of 14, when boys were really starting to get - shall we say, bold - that I didn't want to date and didn't want to physically give anything away - until I'd known I'd found him. (I mostly owe that to my big tough protective dad!) Being such a passionate one, I always knew I'd know right away. Meanwhile, waiting.. not easy when you're naturally impatient. (speaking for myself)

{our home in Okinawa}

I remember begging God to atleast let me meet my future husband, even if it wasn't time to be married.

Wow. He answered it.

We met while Cam was at the Naval Academy and though we knew literally right away we were going to marry each other, he legally couldn't until graduation... which was three years away. 

Cue physical waiting & intense attempts at self-control.

GAAHH. 

But I can tell you now, and knew it even while we were going through it, that waiting is a blessing. And I know I'm not even understanding the full measure of it yet.

I'm not just referring to finally having sex on the wedding night.. and every day you want after that. Though.... ;)

God does miraculous things through making you wait. He makes you stronger and builds your faith; He makes you trust Him in ways you hadn't before; and He takes care of every single little detail so that the transition from waiting to what you were waiting for, feels utterly seamless. Had Cam and I met when I wanted to - years before we actually did - I think I'd still be single today. Ha! God did more in those years than I can fit into this post. 

 It's hard to step away from anxiety when there's something you want SO badly and to really trust that His timing is literally what your deepest desires are asking for. I remember a point in which I thought, even if I never get married, it's still right to trust God with the future & to keep sex where it belongs inside of marriage regardless of how many people think I'm crazy for that. That was freeing - so much so that even when my closest friends around me were all getting engaged and finding their match and constantly wondering aloud to me why I hadn't yet - I could fully trust and relax in faith. That was a gift He gave to me through years of waiting that I wouldn't trade for anything. 

There's been a million things said on this subject, but I wanted to share that it is a blessing. Know that you are so blessed if you're living through it now - because God NEVER stops working on our behalf. He is constantly working and preparing for you. And in His perfect timing, you'll probably know why.