The Marketplace

While Shaina had been enjoying visiting old friends in Hawaii over the past week with her two daughters and husband, I was busy with family and work (but then again, I make myself busy;; the Martha mentality).   This week was a blur, I have to admit, and as each day ended I found myself asking, "What did I do of any significance?" If I can't come up with anything substantial either with my family, others, home or work, even if I spent lots of time on something, I get down on myself. It's not very healthy, I know, and even though I may not accomplish a specific task, I understand that some things take time to achieve. But still, depressed I get. And I'm usually a very positive person.

Despite all that, there was one thing kept me going this week.

I've been praying about something specific that's been weighing on me. To back track, there have been many prayers that I have written in my journals over the past 20 years. Sometimes I'll come across one of the older books to recall what was going on back then and to see how many prayers were answered. Sometimes I'm amazed. One of my deepest prayers took 20 years to begin bearing fruit (Interestingly enough, God prepared me for that 20 year period of endurance although I begged Him not to wait that long). Other times He answers before I ask anything at all. There have been a few times when I desperately needed to hear a particular worship or praise song in my car and it would come on the radio immediately.  I think you have to be a music person to understand why something like this would be so significant to a person like me. I'm not only a Martha by nature, but a David as well.

Back to the issue: Over the last year I've been asking God for a particular prayer that He impressed upon my heart. In addition to the many things I would like to see happen in my life and the lives of others, my simple prayer is this: "Lord, I want the marketplace."  I'm not being rude or pretentious when I ask this because I know it's what God wants. I normally don't even say "please" or "if you want..." but "I want..." because I know HE wants. And when I say "I want", I actually mean for Gold Plum Studio, a collaboration between Shaina and me.

I recently looked up the word marketplace. I knew the meaning, but I wanted to find out if there was a broader meaning that I should be aware of. Marketplaces are similar to communities that buy and sell goods. But there is more to it than that. I felt that the marketplaces we are to participate in should be serving all peoples, not just the select few spiritual ones. We are Christ's hands and feet. This is a big deal to me. And I'm finding that readers of all kinds are interested in our faith-based stories and want to know what makes us tick. Although they have their own perceptions of who God is, it's so exciting to interact with those who are seeking truth or those with interesting questions or comments about life from their experiences. I was just like them.

So now, I pray for the marketplace.

And just for the record, when you seek after God's heart and ask him questions, He will impress certain prayers that you should be asking Him for. I know God gives us desires, but He also knows what makes us happy, and He promises to fulfill us in this lifetime. I don't think I ever believed that until I really became aware of how much love He pours over and into us. When we are joyful, it brings him joy. And when we are satisfied with His goodness, He is glorified.