You’ve probably imagined the job, the spouse, the kids—and you knew what age you wanted it all to happen. However, all too often such plans go up in smoke, and you may feel confused and forgotten when reality doesn’t match your expectations. When life doesn’t go like you planned, can you still trust that God knows how to write the best stories? Instead of taking the pen to your own story, author Lauren Walton suggests refocusing on your Creator.

After spending years frustrated because life wasn’t going according to her plans, Lauren decided to give up control. It was then she learned God’s graciousness wasn’t based on getting what she wanted and that God’s perfect plan included an unexpected season. She wrote The Wait Will Not Be Wasted to help other single women during times of unfulfilled hopes. Lauren shares how self-reflection, journaling, and practical experience have led her to find deep fulfillment and a God-given purpose while she waits. It is her hope that her journey will help others see God’s goodness even during the most difficult times.

Though directed at single women, the concepts apply to any woman waiting for God to move in her life.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Lauren Walton is a native Floridian who now calls Nashville home. She loves traveling, dancing, staying active with her church community, and cheering on her Auburn University Tigers. Lauren’s faith has carried her through some tough times, and it is now her life goal to help others see God’s goodness even during the most difficult times.

 

More from Lauren

 

All I have ever wanted was to be a wife and a mom. In the life I had always imagined there were no other options. But then college came and went, moving to a new city and finding my first job came and went. And so many other milestones came and went, including my 35^th birthday. As the years kept passing, I found myself still waiting. My heart felt confused and forgotten. I didn’t understand why God would give me this desire and then withhold it from me.

About eight years ago a friend wrote a verse in my journal. I loved it at the time but didn’t realize it would become my anthem in the future. She wrote Psalm 94:17, which says, “Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul would soon have settled in silence”. I can’t tell you how many times I almost settled in silence but turns out God had other plans for me.

Many times I started to wonder if God really was the good God I had always thought He was. I grew up in church and had been taught from a young age to believe God was good no matter what. But as the wait got longer and longer He didn’t seem to be very good. At that point, I started questioning so many things as I felt my faith beginning to crack. I was terrified of what I might find if I dug into the pain so I pushed it aside, or at least tried to. I began to believe the lie that having doubts would make me a horrible Christian so I kept silent.  I was so afraid to ask the tough questions and was afraid of what those questions might say about me. Ignoring those concerns ended up being a breeding ground for all my doubts, which eventually led me to make decisions I normally would never have made. I lost sight of God’s goodness and found myself solely focusing on what I didn’t have… a husband and a family. This was a season filled with sadness and so much bitterness. I was so over being single and so frustrated with the way my life had turned out. But somewhere in the middle of all that hurt, and despite all my mistakes, God still came for me. He started teaching me all over again who He was as my Father. And how much He loved me.

As I started walking towards healing, I began to ask God the really hard questions my heart couldn’t make sense of, and I believe He started to answer me. So I started to write it all down. I kept a running note in my phone and I always felt like the things God was showing me and encouraging me with were not just for me. If God had me still waiting, there must be a reason and I was determined to figure out what that was. I eventually took a next step and went away for the weekend to write. I found the perfect Airbnb tree house and 7 chapters came spilling out.

At that point it became very clear this book needed to be written and I felt very strongly it needed to be written now… while I am still waiting and not when I am on the other side of my singleness. It’s my hope this will cause other women to lean into what I am saying, or better yet what God has to say. I believe these are His words and not mine anyway.

The Wait will not be Wasted is my “yes” to the Lord and my thank you for how far He has brought me. It’s my whole heart in written form, and the story of my victories and struggles while walking through my singleness. It’s not the pretty or cleaned up version of my story. It was very purposely written that way so we could all take a deep breath and know it’s okay, that it’s hard and it’s okay to make mistakes. I know I’ve made plenty.

I’m praying as women read these words they will discover this life is never going to be void of the hard but there is a very real and very big God who is bigger than anything we go through. I hope together we can begin to see our singleness through a new filter, as we began to shift our attention and see things more from God’s perspective instead of our own. Knowing this doesn’t mean the wait will all of a sudden be easier. But also seeing even through the pain there is a purpose to this season. And God is working all of it together for our good.

He’s always making sure not one minute of our pain is wasted.

Author Interview with Lauren Lianne

How did writing this book grow you spiritually?

Writing this book changed me in so many ways. I’ve been calling it my act of obedience and my thank you to the Lord for how far He has brought me, which still feels so very true. Writing it has shown me even more how involved God is in the details of our lives and how He never stops using all the hard for good. This book was birthed from a place of pain but because of that it has become a tangible piece of redemption. Had I not started writing it I wouldn’t understand just how much God wants to redeem every moment of the hard. It was also through the writing I saw God’s goodness wasn’t based on me getting everything I wanted. He is good because that is who He is and that is never going to change. I’ve seen His faithfulness during this process more than ever and that is something I will always take with me moving forward.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?

When I am not writing you can find me cheering on God’s team (aka Auburn, duh), basking in the Florida sun, or squeezing in as much quality time with loved ones as possible. I love staying active, which sometimes means playing in sports leagues and other times it’s saying yes to random adventures or trips with friends. I have the best time traveling and experiencing new things. I have the most amazing community at my church and they constantly point me to Jesus and also help make life so much fun!

What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

I would say Lysa TerKeurst’s book, It’s not Supposed to be this Way, is the reason I wrote this book. Or at least why I finished it so quickly. Someone recommend it to me while walking through my most recent disappointment and I was so drawn into her writing and how real and raw it all was. I soon learned it came across that way because she wrote it while she was still walking through the disappointment. After reading her book I realized the time for writing my own book was now. While I was still in the middle of my wait, even if that meant I would have to press into the pain. It became very important to tell my story from this place and not on the other side when I was already married. I’m so thankful Lysa was brave enough to write from the middle of her mess.

When did you start writing?

I’ve always loved writing and for as long as I can remember it has always been an outlet of healing for me. Mostly it was just in my own personal journals but then God started doing the most incredible things in my life and staying quiet about them no longer seemed like an option. I started a blog when my mom was re-diagnosed with cancer and it became a place for me to process her eventual death. It became a safe space where I always tried to be as honest as possible. I’ve learned there is a cost to keeping silent and my blog became a way to not let my circumstances have the final say. I always thought it sounded fun to write a book someday, I just never imagined it would be now.

What is the most difficult part about writing for you?

Since this is all new to me the whole process was a learning experience. Each step brought new challenges and new things to learn. For example, seeing all the red on the first round of edits was harder than I ever could have imagined. I tried to read through them in one sitting but before I got all the way through I burst into tears, ran away from my computer and contemplated giving up on the whole thing. I’m so glad I didn’t but it was not easy to read those first critiques. I also found writing about this topic was a challenge for me. It wasn’t easy to sit in all that pain and dig into all the hurt. I also knew if I was going to write this book I wanted to be as vulnerable as possible but it wasn’t easy admitting how hard it has been for me to walk this road of singleness.

Thank you Lauren for letting us get to know you better!

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