Actively Waiting For Your Future Husband

I have always wanted to get married. Ok, I take that back. At first, I just wanted the wedding and not the husband. However, ever since I realized that having a husband had merit, I have wanted one. Many play hours as a child were spent with me playing house and taking care of my play husband and play children. Not much has changed as I have gotten older except for the fact that I have substituted my play husband for my real family while I wait for my real husband to come along.

If you're anything like me, I'm sure you smiled just then and cast your mind back to the childhood days of playing house. Not much changes, except maybe now we put a little bit more thought into it. I'll bet that, like me, you probably dream a bit about the day you get married. You dream of the loving man you'll marry and play different scenarios over and over in your head of how you'll meet, how he'll propose, and just the right time and place for your first kiss. You've gone through pictures of wedding dresses online or in magazines. You've saved a wedding idea here or there and the really committed among you have the entire wedding planned in step-by-step boards on Pinterest.

And in the meantime? You have determined to stay pure and wait for God to bring you to your husband. Some of you have vowed this in front of witnesses and others have simply said this to yourself. It doesn't matter how you came to this decision, the point is you've made it now. So what are you doing about it? "Well, I'm waiting, of course, " you say. That's very good, but what else are you doing?

How active are you in your wait?

"What?" you say. "That doesn't make sense."

Yes, it does, an I'll show you how. We are all familiar with the common definition of waiting.

wait

/wāt/

Learn to pronounce

verb

stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something else happens.

I feel like there are too many people doing too much of this particular type of waiting. 

"Is there another type of waiting?"

Yes, again. There is actively waiting. Now before you say that is an oxymoron, let me demonstrate how you already "actively wait" in your everyday life.

Think of the last time you made spaghetti. What did you do? Most likely you put the noodles on to boil and while you waited for them to cook you made the sauce.  You didn't twiddle your thumbs while the noodles boiled, you made the sauce. You actively waited.

Now back to my original question. How active are you in your wait? Or are you just staying in one place waiting on God to bring your Prince Charming?

"Ok, " you say, "How do I go about actively waiting on my husband?"

I'm glad you asked that. Here are five ways you can be active in your wait.

• Pray for your husband

     Now is a good time to get in the habit of praying a covering over your husband. He fights a battle every day and night. Pray a covering over his heart, mind, and soul. Pray that God blinds his eyes to things he should not see and opens them for what he should. Pray for his physical protection. Pray that God will mold him into the godly man you'll need as a husband. Remember, it's possible your husband may not even be saved right now. Pray that he comes to know the LORD if he doesn't already. Now is also a good time to bring before God the character traits you desire in a husband. And do not forget to pray these things over yourself as well.

• Improve yourself

     What do I mean by this? Too many people forget to work on their own heart before marriage. This is the time to ask God to reveal things in your own heart and character that need work. Pray for God to mold you into the godly wife your husband needs. 

• Build your hope chest

     This is more important than you might think. Now is not merely a time of waiting but also of preparation. It's easy to think "Why do I need a hope chest? I'll buy all the stuff when I get married and determine the theme of each room in my house." Dear friend, are your potato peelers and measuring cups going to have a theme? What about every pillowcase, blanket, and placemat? These are any-size-fits all items that won't need a theme and you'll be happy for them when you are first starting your house. Do not count on having the money to fully set up a house when you get married.  Buy a little at a time and fill your hope chest.  You won't have everything but you'll be grateful to have what you do put aside.

• Serve your family

     So many people miss out on this opportunity. Your family is already established. You have a house to keep, clothes to wash, and hungry mouths needing to be fed. This is the perfect time to practice being a homemaker and to practice joyfully serving. Try out new recipes, test homemade cleaning products, learn how to organize. These are all things you can do right now.

• Learn to budget money

     Your husband will appreciate this quality in you. As I said, don't count on having a lot of money when you get married. You will need to learn to budget the household funds, bills, and added expenses.

What do you think? Did you come up with any way to actively wait that I missed? Let me hear your thoughts in the comments below!