God is in the Waiting

Check out my latest podcast. Click the link below. Are you tired of waiting? Have prayers that haven't been answered yet? Then, you won't want to miss this podcast, God is in the Waiting. There is a big difference in simply waiting and waiting on God. This recording will cover the benefits of waiting, how to wait and partner with God in the waiting

God is in the Waiting

What happened to normal?

What happened to 'normal'?

Kathleen Maxwell-Rambie
copyright 2019
Kerrville Daily Times

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My life has been anything but normal for quite some time now. I have discovered that walking with God is anything but boring and normal.

God marches to the beat of his own drum, and that melody is found in scripture. Normal for him is to pour out goodness on the biggest sinner. His normal is to always love, no matter what. He is good and rich in love. This lets me know I need to adjust my thinking and trade it for God’s normal.

God does not ration his goodness. He is not reluctant to bless you. Over and over again in scripture, it states that He is good, and his goodness will follow us all the days of my life. For me, that means I need to look for His goodness.

Psalms 118:29 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good and his loves endures forever.” ( KJV)

Psalms 119:68 says, “You are good and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.” (KJV)

Sometimes those words are hard to swallow as we try to make sense of life’s difficulties and disappointments.

What I have found is, the jewels are found in the waiting and persevering. In the middle of life’s turmoil, we must keep looking for the silver lining and trust God.

I find that too many people quit trusting and quit looking for how God is going to work things together for their good. I know I have struggled with this personally in several situations and have had to discipline myself to hang in there.

One of my favorite scriptures is Romans 2:4, which says, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (NIV)

Think about that for a minute. In our society, when someone does something wrong and needs to repent of their wrong, we normally do not think of how good we can be to them.

God says, let’s pour out more goodness and let that convict them, leading them to wanting to repent.

I will have to say, I have not always felt like being good and kind to those who have done wrong, especially to me. If I live in those feelings, they can lead me on a wrong path.

God’s ways are so much higher than mine and his work. My ways do not always work, and therefore, I must submit to his ways.

It’s normal for God to pour out kindness, so I guess we need to learn a new normal.

What do we do when someone takes advantage of us? Normal to God is found in Romans 12: 19-21: “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay’ says the Lord.” (NIV)

We frequently have seen in our society evil ways and evil things invading our nation’s families, politics, businesses and even churches. Evil is around us. What if that is because we believe God is on a budget, and we keep His goodness for ourselves instead of giving it away? God pours out his goodness on us all the time. I believe we often just don’t realize it. We feel that God is reluctant to bless us, and that is just not true.

What if we became a community that poured out our financial resources, our time, our energy to help those that have broken the law, have unkept neighborhoods, are irresponsible and don’t know God?

Normal in our society is to criticize and judge those who have messed up in life. I know, because I have been guilty of judgement and have had to repent. I believe we are called to live above the norm and bless and bless again those who struggle in life. We really are not called to live a normal life when we walk with God.

There was a time in my life when I really felt misunderstood by someone. They totally misinterpreted my actions and words. It hurt my heart that their communication was harsh, judgmental and that they withdrew their love and support in a time I needed it the most.

My challenge was “How am I going to respond?” Withdraw myself? Continue being kind and walk in love?

Love is a choice, so is kindness and forgiveness.

I think we have a world around us that is longing to see God as he really is. He is good, He is for us, He is with us, and therefore, we can be full of joy, peace, kindness and His goodness.

What if God wants to use you and me to reveal his mercy and love to another?

Will you join me in letting God mold you and shape you? Will you be the one to pour out a kind word or goodness to someone who has not valued you or who has dishonored you?

All of mankind is waiting for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed. You could be the next one God wants to use!

Kathleen is a native of the Hill Country and is a writer and speaker. Visit her podcast at kathleenmaxwellrambie.podbean.com. On Oct. 29 and Nov.5, 6:30-7:45 p.m., she will lead a free Bible study at the Kroc Center, “The Gathering: Bringing God into Everyday Life.” All are invited. Kathleenmaxwell1@gmail.com.

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Ten years ago

It was a hot summer day in 2009, and Joe, my late husband, and I were sitting in our living room. He was battling a rare cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma, and was recovering from a surgery that removed a 19-centimeter tumor from his shoulder. He had lost function of his arm.

Right after his diagnosis, Joe began a Caring Bridge site, to keep our family,

friends, coworkers and community people informed on how to pray, and where we were in our battle. Both of us had grown up here in Kerrville.

“Joe, people are asking for an update. If you will tell me what to say, I will write it for you,” I said, as I sat down at the computer.

“No, I want you to share what is on your heart. God has something for you in writing,” he replied, in a soft but firm voice.

“Well, I will write until you get better, but I didn’t even like English or writing in high school or college,” I said. “I am not a writer.”

In the days and weeks ahead, Joe did not get better, and the news we received was not good. 

We had so many people around the world cheering us on in our battle for his life, praying and believing with us for healing. 

God had done many great things for us since he was diagnosed that cold day, Jan. 8, 2009. We could see God’s hand in our lives and saw how close God was in the midst of this hard time. 

I did not want to share all the negative news without also showing how faithful God had been to us during our battle. The 10-hour surgery at M.D. Anderson was not the cure we had hoped for, and the cancer had spread. The negative news was only part of our story. 

Watching someone you love suffer is the hardest thing I have endured, and yet, I was learning about the beauty of walking with God in the “valley of the shadow of death.”

Joe’s health continued to decline, so I began to share my heart in a transparent way and also shared the goodness of God, when our prayers did not get answered the way we wanted. 

As I continued to tell our story on the Caring Bridge site, hundreds of people began following our site, and little did I know, I was beginning my callings as a writer.

Early on the morning of Oct. 8, 2009, nine months to the day after diagnosis, Joe took his last breath on this Earth and his first breath in heaven.

After his death, I continued sharing my heart and my journey through grief on Caring Bridge. We had more than 39,950 visits to this website. 

Toward the end of 2009, my children suggested I transition to a blog, www.themaxwellminutes.blogspot.com, as many were responding, and people were identifying with overcoming difficulty. People were looking for encouragement during hard times, and all of us encounter adversity. 

I continued writing about grief, life without Joe and how God was faithful in my journey through grief.

In January of 2010, a young editor of the Faith Section of The Kerrville Daily Times contacted me. Her name was Carlina Villalpando, and she had been following our Caring Bridge website and my blog. She encouraged me in my writing and asked me to begin writing for the Faith Section of the paper. She is now the editor and publisher of The Kerrville Daily Times.

“I’m not a writer,” I told her, but I did agree to pray about it and loved the opportunity to share about who God was. 

In March of 2010, I began writing for the paper and, shortly after that, The Hill Country Community Journal. Ten years later, I write for three newspapers, my blog, lead a community Bible study called The Gathering: Bringing God into Everyday Life, and now have a podcast, kathleenmaxwellrambie.podbean.com.

I discovered the veil between life and death is very thin. Joe saw me in the future. He saw me through God’s eyes, and I believe Carlina heard from God and saw my potential. 

I do not think I would have ever begun writing and speaking if Joe and I had not had that conversation in our living room in July of 2009 and without Carlina’s invitation. I am grateful for both of them.

Joe will have been gone 10 years on Oct. 8. It seems like yesterday, and yet it seems like a lifetime, as I have remarried a great man, Stephen, and now have a whole new life. 

A new compassion and talent developed in time and during my journey through grief. I am passionate about helping people, and I pray you will find beauty in the ashes of whatever adversity you are going through right now. 

In the meantime, trust God and hang on to Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (KJV)

Kathleen is a Hill Country native and is a writer and speaker. She is passionate about helping people discover their value and worth. She will lead a Bible study at The Kroc Center called The Gathering: Bringing God into Everyday Life All from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. Oct. 1. All are invited. Kathleenmaxwell1@gmail.com.

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