Saturday, June 7, 2008

INTERNET CAFE DEVOTIONS--CAFE CHAT


Today I went to a site I like to check in on every now and then (www.internetcafedevotions.com). It's a neat site and there is a post for today that got my attention and asks the following:


If you could go back in time to a pivotal point in your young life and give yourself one word/sentence of advice, and know that you would accept the advice, what would it be?
Imagine what a gift it would be if we could actually go back in time and give ourselves advice…Hmm… Of course we cannot, but I think this is a great question for us to ponder. Although, I think many of us would agree that we learned more from the mistakes we made, but wouldn’t it be nice to not have to learn the “hard way” in some situations? Have fun with the question this week.
I cannot wait to read your responses…

Click on the link I provided above to join in. I thought I'd give it a try; just ponder on what advice I'd give myself and share my thoughts with you. Here's what I came up with--
If I could go back and give myself advice, if I could stand over me and speak into my life, if I knew I would have been receptive and listened, here's what I would have told myself and then followed through: Know who you are in Christ as a single woman. Don't pray for a husband as much as pray that God uses you in the season you're in right now (as a single person) and that you pursue Him with all diligence. Turn your affections and devotion toward Him and no one else. If you are to be married, pray for your future husband and don't let your worldly thinking and flesh choose him for you. Wait on the Lord. Pray that you're the kind of woman God wants you to be when or if He chooses to send a husband your way. Pray that you are mature and ready for him (the future husband). Find out what God's Word has to say about being a woman of God and wife. Once you know, make the decision to follow through. God will honor His Word and your decision.
These are the things I would have told myself. These are the things that I wished I had done, although God has graciously and mercifully used my bad decisions for good and for His glory. Oh, had I listened to the advice given me sometimes growing up... Oh, had I had someone telling me things I needed to know and pouring themselves into my life... But God...:)

14 comments:

Toknowhim said...

What great words of wisdom, and how our lives as women would be different if we truly sought Christ above all others. Thanks for participating this week :)

Dawn said...

These are all wonderful things to tell our young selves. I hope my daughters learn these pieces of wisdom during their lifetime. :-)

Peculiar said...

To you from toknowhim, I will certainly be teaching these words of wisdom I learned to my girls. Really, I've already started. I pray they listen, unlike myself. Thanks for stopping by.

Dawn, I echo your sentiments. Thanks for stopping by.

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

My younger self could have benefitted from those same words!
Thanks for sharing.

Sheila said...

Thanks for sharing that! Mine was very similar!

sheila

Amy L Brooke said...

Thanks for commenting on my xanga site. I acutally have a blog spot one that I started in December. It is kind of my main one. I copy things over to Xanga for those who are in my xanga network. So, it may look double at times (Babblingbrooke135)

Thanks for commenting! Comments are so nice!

Glad to meet you too.

Peculiar said...

Jamie, thanks for stopping by.

Found, you know what I mean then huh? Thank God for His grace and mercy on us later.

Amy l Brooke, I think I may have ended up at your BabblingBrooke site. I'll come over to visit again. You're welcome.

Maisie said...

Such good advice. I know many Christian women who rushed into marriage because they were afraid of never getting married. Sadly, a lot of their marriages ended.

Cristine said...

What great wisdom. I especially liked, "Don't pray for a husband as much as pray that God uses you in the season you're in right now." Good stuff!

Lily said...

Good advice. I know too many friends that had prayed to be married. Marriage was never a desire for me because of the examples I had, so when my husband came along I thought this must be God. Everything seemed to have lined up. Things didn't work out, and I know it's not too late to work on the relationship, but the one thing I can work on,in the meantime is me.

Peculiar said...

Lily, you hit the nail on the head. I'm praying for and talking to my sister about the same thing in her life right now. We're praying that she sees how she needs to work on who she is and what's expected of her in Christ, whether her husband gets it together or not. She and the children will be better off for it. God is calling HER to Himself and she can only be responsible for herself. You never know; her husband just may follow her one day, and meet Jesus. Blessings to you Lily.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, thank you so much! I do not have to go back to implement this...I'm working on it NOW. God bless you for this post.

Sam said...

As a single woman I appreciate what you have said - when I was younger I used bemoan my lack of a fella! But today...not so much...today I try to live my life as I should and see what comes my way!

Peculiar said...

Sharon, thank you for stopping by. Glad you're working on this now. You'll be so much better off for it, and so will any future mate God may have for you. God bless you in your challenges and rewards with this.

Sam, good for you! Single women can be so greatly used in the kingdom, and using your time to focus on the Lord during this season is so invaluable. I wish I had known how valuable, as a single person, I could have been to the service of God and the church, and how strong my relationship with God could have been. I needed my focus to be on Him, not someone else. But, God's been merciful to me in these latter years, now that my focus has shifted.