On Hold

This is the entrance to my glass studio right now. It hasn't been an ideal place to work on glass: Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter. Almost never right for soldering, which works best at certain temperatures. It's also difficult to work out here because our six-year-old doesn't have much to do inside my shed, and I'm not comfortable with her in the house and me out in the shed. Oh! And the mice...can't forget the mice, who chew through my bubble wrap (why?) and make nests in my glass cases. Ugh!

I haven't done much work in the past 14 months while we have lived here. The temperatures, my broken elbow, the remoteness... all have taken their toll on my glass work. In some ways, it's been frustrating. In some ways, I've felt like my art was on hold, just like our family's future, waiting on God's call. My husband continues to interview, and we continue to wait. We've been close to a call a couple of times, but obstacles keep appearing unexpectedly.

On hold.

A couple of months ago, when it seemed a call was imminent, I started packing up my glass studio. The call didn't come, and I stopped packing for a while. I prayed about unpacking and getting started with working again, and God clearly said, "Trust me. Pack." So I kept packing my tools and my glass, all the while doubting whether I should be doing so.

But every time I pray about it, I get the same message: "Trust me. Pack." So, I'm packing. And trusting. And waiting. And enjoying playing with our wee one. And writing. But mostly, trusting God to provide, to call us to service, to hold us in His hand while we are on hold.