Lady of Reckless Abandonment

The other day I was in the living room staring at the bookshelf trying to figure out what to read next, not that I have lack of books, rather there are so many I want to read I was trying to figure out where to start. My mother came in and gave me one that wasn't even on my list(guess all those others will have to wait a bit). Because of the season of life that I am in right now she felt that reading Lady In Waiting would be appropriate. With my sister's marriage, and the emotional ups and downs that come with helping her on to this next stage of her life, this book has proved to be very helpful for me. And as I await my own time to "graduate" in life.

I've read it through already but am now going through it a little slower, taking time to really think about each chapter and how it might apply to my own life. Some areas are easier than others as my situation varies from the those spoken about in the book, but there is something I can learn from each and seek to use for my Lord everyday of my life, whether I be married or single. I'm hoping to do a post on what I'm learning from each chapter, we'll have to see just how well it goes.

A lady of reckless abandonment... sounds a little, well...reckless. Which is typically not a good thing. But as with all things you really have to put it in it's proper context to really see the whole picture and get a true understanding of what is being said. Ruth is the main example used in this part of the book, her reckless abandonment involved leaving everything that she knew and as far as could be seen abandoning all hope of getting married again and being able to raise her own family in a comfortable, familiar environment. She gave everything to Naomi and a God she had just barely begun to know about, having been raised with a completely different world-view.

As I consider reckless abandonment in my own life, I see as being an abandonment of self and of what I might want for my own life. Abandoning all things that do serve to glorify my Lord, things that may not be wrong in and of themselves, but that can distract me from the most precious thing in my life. Abandoning myself completely to Christ, with Him being the all in all in my life.

"When two "incomplete" singles get married their union will not make them complete. Their marriage will simple be two "incomplete" people trying to find completeness in one another. Only when they understand that their fullness is found in a relationship with Jesus will they ever begin to complement one another. They can never complete one another. You were not created to complete another, but to complement." -Lady in Waiting: Lady of Reckless Abandonment

The quote above I found very helpful. Very often I have been told that it is my role when I become a wife to complete my husband and that his is to do the same for me. But this throws a whole, and I believe more Biblical, perspective on it. How could two fallen, sinful human being possibly complete one another, only in the Lord can we be complete and it must come before marriage. Otherwise we are not able to come together with someone else and complement them. My relationship with my husband will be a very special, beautiful thing, but it is not what is first in my life. Before I can properly love and serve any man, I must be loving and serving my Lord, Jesus Christ, recklessly abandoning myself to this love and service, as it is what my life was created for, my high calling as His handmaiden.