We all go through different seasons of life; some we experience together, and some we battle alone; some are good, some are great, and some are downright grueling. And if you have read any of our previous letters this year, you will know we just came out of a very hard season, hit the pause button, and are patiently awaiting the winds of change to pick back up and move us toward the path in which we are to take. Slightly joking here, as typically, we don’t wait very long!
If you were like me, a go, go, go, doer, when you hit the pause button, sometimes your body says, all right, let’s do this pause thing. Let’s stop doing everything, let’s stop doing all the things you said you wanted to do, let’s go back to our old ways, and then let’s worry about them and beat ourselves up about them, over & over & over. If this sounds like a familiar season you are in, know you are not alone. However, the enemy would love for you to believe that you are all by yourself with no help in sight.
Friends, that’s just not the truth. Being the recovering perfectionist I am 😉, I have actually learned so much about myself in this season of pausing. I have learned that just because I miss one day of vitamins for myself, I don’t need to quit taking them altogether. I’ve learned that just because I honestly forget something doesn’t mean I don’t care; It just may mean I still have a lot on my plate. I’ve also learned how to have Grace for myself, get back on the horse, and just start again... You guys! I’m not perfect & neither are you! It’s OK to fall short; if we could do it all on our own, then why in the world would we need God?
But then there is the other side to this. The side that beats you up. The side that says, if you pause to rest and don’t get back up and do Mach 90 to the finish line, you will lose everything you worked for… In most cases, this is simply just not true. We need to pause & we need to rest. We need to listen for our next steps to know how to enter our next chapters and seasons of life. We must be prepared and rested to be in a new place mentally and willing to step back out onto the waters of faith.
As we all enter this new spring season, know that things will change in the next couple of weeks! Life will be restored, and best of all, babies of all sorts will start to flood our feeds on social media instead of the negative things the world tries to suppress us with. I’m pretty sure that one thing we can all agree on is that we are sick and tired of all the negative talk and fear that is thrown at us daily.
By the way, yes, I do believe there are a lot of bad and evil things happening, and I am not telling you to bury your head in the sand, but I will be real (my thoughts) with you here, and you all do with them what you may.
I know this world is heavy right now. I know that whether you’re a mom trying to raise your kids with Godly beliefs, a business owner trying to navigate a new landscape of connecting with your customers on a platform where AI is threatening a takeover, a man trying to provide for his family in a world that continually out dollars the paycheck he brings home, or a grandparent who can’t believe what is all unfolding in the land they had fought and served their whole life for. This life is tough, but having regrets at the end of it is even more tough.
We all have choices. We can choose to look at the bad and the negative and let them steal the light that is within us, or we can take those fires burning around us and use them as fuel. At the end of whatever this is, we are all going through. I don’t want to be paralyzed by fear & regret. I want to look back and hear a still, small voice say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
So, over the next week, do a self-check-in. See if the goals you set out for 2024 align with how you’re feeling. Then check in with those feelings and ask yourself if what your feelings have you believing is really the truth. If all is well, keep going! If not, Reset, Re-adjust, or Remind yourself why you want, need, or have to do the things you do.
Remember, it’s OK to pause, it’s OK to want better, it’s OK to have big dreams! Seasons come & seasons go... Don’t miss the season you’re in. Before you know it, it will have changed.
And as the song goes...