{"id":120,"date":"2012-10-23T11:18:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-23T11:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=120"},"modified":"2012-10-23T11:18:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-23T11:18:00","slug":"and-waiting-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=120","title":{"rendered":"And Waiting Again…"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have anticipated this day for over two weeks now. The other half of our service team to SE Asia returns home today. <\/span>
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I\u2019ve missed them so much. They were inspirational. They were prayer warriors. They were cheerful. They were wonderful mentors. They led wisely. They are good friends.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Being back in America without them has been okay, but the idea of them returning, to reunite the team is more than exciting to me. It is exhilarating!<\/span><\/div>\n
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I wonder if this was how the Apostles felt after Jesus left them. Acts 1:4-5 (NIV) shares the account of Jesus\u2019 instructions. \u201cOn one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: \u2018Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.\u2019\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
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They were to wait. Wait for the rest of the team to arrive. <\/span><\/div>\n
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It isn\u2019t fun to wait. I\u2019ve had to wait quite a bit in my lifetime. Wait for pregnancies to come to term. Wait for news of an upcoming, possible job. Wait for the arrival of wonderful guests. Wait for surgery to be finished on a loved one.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Waiting. It isn\u2019t an easy task.<\/span><\/div>\n
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The Apostles kept busy while they were waiting however. After Jesus left them, they returned to Jerusalem to wait as Jesus had requested. We see in the first chapter of Acts that they chose a replacement for Judas (Acts 1:12-26).<\/span><\/div>\n
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In Luke\u2019s account of the time after Jesus\u2019 ascension, we come to an understanding of other things the Apostles did while waiting.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cWhen he (Jesus) had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.\u201d<\/span><\/i> (Luke 24:50-53 \u2013 NIV)<\/span><\/div>\n
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The Apostles were continuously in the temple. They continuously praised God. Now that was something to do while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. They were preparing themselves for what was to come. <\/span><\/div>\n
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Under these circumstances, I suspect the wait wasn\u2019t as difficult as we might think.<\/span><\/div>\n
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So what should we do while we\u2019re waiting?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Be productive. Don\u2019t sit around with only the wait on your mind. Find something to do that will be of good. It will help take your mind off the wait period.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I believe we can also spend time with fellow believers. Just as the Apostles were always at the temple, we can find ways to be near others who believe as we do. This too will help us from becoming so focused on the wait that we miss the anticipation. The joy of something to look forward to.<\/span><\/div>\n
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And then the last thing we can learn from the Apostles is to praise God while we\u2019re waiting. Of course we should praise God all the time, but in times of waiting, I believe praising God will again take our focus off of ourselves and place it directly on God. And let\u2019s face it, there\u2019s always something to praise God for.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I wish God had brought these concepts to my mind two weeks ago. I might have viewed this wait period much differently. Yes, I\u2019ve done these three things, but I might have done a few things differently.<\/span><\/div>\n
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The good news is that now that I\u2019ve learned a lesson, I can use it the next time I am required to wait. And that starts now.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I\u2019m waiting for my fourth grandchild to be born. A little girl. Oh, how difficult it is to wait, but I know the importance of waiting for this baby to develop fully before birth.<\/span><\/div>\n
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So until that time, I will be productive. I will continually be in God\u2019s house with His people. And I will not stop praising God. And so it begins.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/span><\/div>\n
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Donna<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have anticipated this day for over two weeks now. The other half of our service team to SE Asia returns home today. I\u2019ve missed them so much. They were inspirational. They were prayer warriors. They were cheerful. They were wonderful mentors. They led wisely. They are good friends. Being back in America without them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":"","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,8,15,17,25,9,19,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-believing-god","category-glorifying-god","category-knowing-god","category-obeying-god","category-praising-god","category-sharing-god","category-thanking-god","category-trusting-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}