2 things God is teaching me

Warning: Before you start reading, I'm feeling very windy, but compelled to share. So this is a long post.

So I feel very compelled to share with you what God is teaching me. Maybe it's because I don't feel like I have a group of people to share with at this moment or maybe someone reading this needs to hear what God is teaching me. Isn't it interesting the way God compels us to do things.

Number 1
God is continually teaching me that His plan is best.
If you've been following my blog you know that I continually "preach" about God's faithfulness and how His timing is so incredible. He always provides so much more than we can think or imagine when we wait on Him. Just when I think I've learned this, He points out and I have to learn the hard way that once again I'm doing things my way instead of His way.
Case in point. I'm a planner. I like to think about everything that might happen and plan a course of action for each scenario. Basically I like to call it being prepared and not being a control freak as some other people do. :-) This baby is a prime example. For months now, the dr has been telling me that he will most likely be born the week after Christmas. For those of you literal people, I know the week after Christmas isn't over yet. In my mind, I just knew he was going to come this weekend. Well it's Sunday evening and he's not here, nor does it look like he's coming. This has been very hard for me as I am a results oriented person. If I'm going to spend hours and hours in pain with contractions I want something to show for it. Some type of progress. Even the littlest hope that there is an end in sight. Please don't get me wrong, I love being pregnant, but in my mind because I've been told for 2 months that he would be here by now, I expect to reach that goal. As I laid there praying last night I just kept saying "God what are you trying to teach me that I'm not getting?" I knew there was a lesson in all this. He kept impressing upon me His answer, but I didn't like it so I kept asking Him. I finally got to the point that if I thought God audibly spoke to me, He would say listen woman, you have to wait for me. It isn't my time yet. When it is, I'll clue you in. Be patient. If you know me at all, you know that I struggle with being patient. So I feel like God is really telling me to chill.
Today I read on of my pregnancy newsletters which I didn't really want to do because they all say the same thing. "Your baby is ready, expect them any time." I didn't want to hear that. For a month I've been told once I get to 37 weeks he's full term and he will be fine. There's no
reason that he should have any problems. For the first time, this newsletter said that yes he is ready and he shouldn't have problems, but for every day he stays in he will be much healthier. It was like it hit me in the head for the first time. Maybe God is saying, yes Anne, this baby is ready to come meet you and daddy, but for everyday he stays with you, he's safe and growing and will be more ready to meet you. Duh, hit me in the head. A light bulb went off and I think I woke up. So I've really been resting in God's peace that everything is done and when God is ready for Isaac to enter this world, so am I.

Number 2
Am I seeking God's approval and worrying about His approval above all.

Again if you know me, you know I'm a people person/people pleaser and I love it when everyone is happy. When reading my devotions today, the topic was on pleasing God. I was gently reminded that I need to ask myself "Why am I doing this?" "Is it to please God or is it to please someone else?" I think most of the time if I answered that question honestly it would be the later, that I'm doing what I'm doing to make everybody happy. I was encouraged and reminded that as a Christian, I am called to make sure that everything I do and say pleases God. Am I going to fail? On a daily basis. Here's the good thing. We serve the most forgiving God and all we have to do is to ask Him to forgive. That concept continually blows my mind. He is so powerful, yet all I have to do is call His name.
This morning at church we sang one of my favorite songs "How Great is Our God." We all know I'm emotional, especially at this point in life, but every time I hear this song and think about what I'm singing I'm so amazed at how great God really is and how incredibly unworthy I am to have His love. Brad, our worship leader likes to sing this song and for the first time that I've heard him, he incorporated one of my favorite hymns "How Great Thou Art." If you know both songs, they fit together perfectly. I'm a firm believer that even though those two songs were written most like 50-100 years apart, God knew that they would be used together in a mighty way. I was totally overwhelmed by how great my God is. Even as I sit hear and write, I'm almost overwhelmed with emotion thinking about God. There have been so many times in my life that I think I have this Christian walk thing all figured out. Lately God's been revealing to us little by little and prompting us to change things in our lives so that we can start to truly be a Christ followers. I am so amazed at how much God yearns for us to be a part of what He is doing. It is so amazing to me that he wants us to be a part of something so big.