I had just finished my morning prayer, meditation, and reading. I picked up my phone and had received this encouraging message from a dear friend of mine. She wishes to remain anonymous, however, I will say that she is a devoted wife, mother of two, daughter, sister, and friend. Most of all she loves God and is beautiful both inside and out. I value her insight, plus she gave me permission to share. Here goes:

“My son is funny to me. Whenever he wants to watch Sesame Street, he climbs into MY bed, pulls the covers over his legs, and reclines on the pillows. He then says, “I’m ready mommy.” He basically assumes the position and expects mommy to deliver. He’s intelligent because he knows to come to mommy instead of daddy. He knows the position he’s suppose to be in to watch the show. In some cases he will even hand me the correct remote to use to turn it on. When it’s not time to watch Sesame Street I’ll either say gently, “No, not right now”, “It’s way too early for TV” or, “You didn’t do what I asked of you today & you expect me to reward you?” Because he is my child, he typically pushes back. Instead of a more gentle response I may have to raise my voice, physically remove him from the position he placed himself in, or pop him if he has decided to keep getting back in the bed after being told no.

He has been doing this for a while, but this morning when he did it, I said to myself, “Wow Lord we are just like this “2” year old.” When we are ready for a new job, a promotion, a relationship, a marriage, a child, more children, new house, new car, a new something, We know exactly who to go to for what we want. We “know” the position we need to be in. We even place ourselves in that position and sometimes hand God the correct remote like, “Yeah you’ll need this one.” If it’s not time, God responds with a gentle answer, “Not right now”, “It’s too early”, or “You haven’t done what I asked you to do”. Then we push back because we figure as if we know best, “No God this is the right time, place & circumstance.” We position ourselves again and He has to raise his voice. We repeatedly keep repositioning ourselves & now He has to pop us because we just aren’t getting it.

Timing & “being where I want to be” has been coming up a lot in my conversations lately. It seems as if we only trust God’s timing when it’s what we want for ourselves. I’m sure my son looks at his other friends and thinks “well their mom lets them have the iPad early.” Just like him, we look at others & say, “Well God is doing it for them right now why not for me?” Whatever season of life you may be in, I want to encourage you to not be so anxious & impatient that you try and manipulate God to be on your schedule. Don’t covet your neighbor’s life or blessings. Remember He knows the plans that He has for you. His plans are to prosper you and not to harm you. His plans are to give you hope and a future. Rest in that promise from Jeremiah 29:11.
Have a great Monday”

-Tot Mom

Wow. What a divine message! I received it at the perfect time and I am still forever grateful for it. Now as I reflect back on my process, I remember this time last year I was back in Louisiana with my parents. It was a trying time for me. Starting my whole life over, just coming out of my hardest trimester of my pregnancy with Legend, still trying to adapt to my new diet without eating meat or dairy, and being unemployed trying to run my business full time were just a few of the challenges I was facing during this time. I had also just shipped my first custom painting order out of state and received my papers in the mail saying The Book of Corinthian LLC was incorporated. I had my first art show coming up where I would be doing poetry and a live painting with a live band playing. I just knew that “it was my time”. I just knew that I was ready to “blow up” as I would say a lot then. I felt like I had been trusting my process and that I should be seeing the results of my hard work by now. There was no reason for me to be struggling. “God what is this? Why am I still here? I am ready to go!” I was getting impatient. I was losing hope. I eventually rose out of that place though when I surrendered and started doing the inner work. I shifted my mindset and said, “Well if I’m waiting then I need to make the best of this time.” Instead of telling God, “I’m ready for this.” I started saying God, “Prepare me for what You have for me.” I started meditating more, reading books relating to spirituality, painting again, praying more, and making new vision boards. When spring rolled around, my life went in a completely different direction. So many great things have happened for me and my family since then. Moving, new jobs, new business opportunities, launching my blog, new opportunities with my art, and birthing Legend to name some of the highlights.  Grateful is an understatement. The things that I thought I wanted? Well God had better for me. God has better for you too if you will just trust. Wait. When it is your time, no man will be able to stop what God has prepared for you. But don’t just wait and do nothing. While you are waiting, prepare. Do the inner work and make sure you are ready to receive what’s in store for you.

To my sweet friend, thank you for sharing this message with me. Thank you for choosing to learn from your baby boy. Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for allowing God to use you to speak to me and teach me. Thank you for your obedience. Thank you for reminding me of God’s promise.

But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint-Isaiah 40:31

Corinthian

Corinthian Elizabeth Williams is a mom of 3, author, entrepreneur, artist, spiritual teacher, and life coach. She is the author of two books, “The Book of Corinthian Chapter One: Beauty in the Bayou” and “Beauty in the Bayou Workbook”. She is the owner of The Book of Corinthian LLC and Corinthian’s Lighthouse LLC. Corinthian is the creator of The Book of Corinthian blog, The Book of Corinthian vlog, the Backpacks and Hairwraps podcast, and The Book of Corinthian App. She holds a certificate in Mindfulness and is a graduate of Baylor University. Corinthian enjoys cooking, reading, learning new things, and designing clothes and accessories.

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