Author hosts church lesson series

By Dean Poling

January 18, 2008 11:42 pm

— VALDOSTA — Local author Verna Foster Harvey will teach a class based on her book, “The Blessedness of Waiting on God.”
A series of lessons for women, the sessions start next weekend and continue every second and fourth Sunday through June 22. “One chapter will be covered each Sunday for a total of 11 Sundays,” Harvey notes.
“The Blessedness of Waiting on God: How to Deal with the Stress of Holding Patterns” is a book where Harvey shares the blessings of patience.
“Generally, most people recognize a holding pattern as being the circular pattern that is flown by aircraft waiting for clearance to land at an airport,” Harvey writes. “... A spiritual holding pattern is God’s way of having us wait for either someone or something that He is preparing us for or that He is preparing for us! ... God can, and He often does, use a state of waiting in one person’s life to accomplish a great work in another person’s life.”
Chapters demonstrate how God’s holding patterns can prepare people for service, can present insight and strength, can present an opportunity to know God better through prayer, can strengthen personal perseverance, and more.
She cites biblical examples of how Old Testament figures such as Abram and Sarai, Joshua, Saul and King David, and Jonah along with the New Testament’s Lazarus, Lydia and even Jesus experienced God’s holding patterns in their lives. Using these biblical demonstrations, Harvey notes how, through perseverance and faith, some succeeded by waiting out God while others made crucial errors by acting on their own rather than patiently accept God’s waiting period.
Harvey’s use of personal experiences will touch base with many readers, too. To make her point, she refers to Valdosta-Lowndes County football, an agonizing wait several years ago for word from her military husband following an attack on an area where he served, the frustrations of impatience but the blessings of being patient.
It was personal experience that led to Verna Foster Harvey’s writing career.
She began writing several years ago during a period of uncertainty in her life. She wrote passages, ideas and phrases to help her through this difficult time. Those writings eventually became her first book, “Growing God’s Way,” which could be described as a self-help book of faith.
“Growing God’s Way” was an easily accessible book, and her second book is even more reader-friendly.
Following each chapter of “The Blessedness of Waiting on God,” Harvey includes additional Scripture, worksheets to help a reader formulate how the preceding chapter’s ideas affect his or her life, and a prayer of meditation.