A Place for Hurting Families to Heal and Thrive​
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Waiting is a period of learning.  The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting.
​ --Henri Nouwen

Watching for a ​Prodigal's Return

​Watching a loved one travel a destructive path is hard.  In the story Jesus told about the son who set off for a distant land squandering his inheritance, we find a grieving father waiting for his return.  We know he watches because Jesus paints the picture with these words (Luke 15:20, NIV), "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."  

Like that father, families in the Waiting Room scan the horizon to catch a glimpse of their loved one's return; asking God to help them find their way home.  While they hold on, God has a place for  families to gather, to pray for one another, and offer words of hope and encouragement from His Word. Here they learn to to rely on His strength for their journey.   

Waiting Room Ministry hopes you don't wait alone.  Join us.   

WORLD EVENTS

​"Prayer breaks all bars,
dissolves all chains,
opens all prisons, 
and widens all straits by which
​God's saints have been held."​ 
-E. M. Bounds

Offering A Sacrifice of
Thanksgiving and Praise

The other day, I thought about the fact that Thanksgiving comes before Christmas.  It is befitting for us to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise to God as we prepare to celebrate the Savior's birth.  

Families in the Waiting Room struggle with the call to be thankful in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18), as the scripture describes God's will for us in Christ Jesus when the good hopes and dreams we desire for loved ones lay dormant.   The celebratory events of the season are challenging when relationships are shallow or fractured, and the state of our world is troublesome.  

In such times, there is a mystery in doing what seems opposite to our humanity.  Perhaps God knows something we humans have difficulty grasping, rightly referring to it as a sacrifice.  "Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man!  And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of His deeds in songs of joy!” (Psalm 107:21-22, ESV)

We can thank the LORD for His wondrous work in our lives as we stand firmly on His Words and promises.  We can thank Him for the work that He is doing in our loved ones' lives, believing He is working even when we don't see any tangible evidence.  We can thank Him for sending us Jesus, who makes a way for the impossible to be possible.  We can thank Him for the Holy Spirit's power that gives us the strength to persevere and carry on.  

Join me and the families who wait with you in Praising our Coming King!
I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,
And in His word ​do I hope.  

​Psalm 130:5, NASB​