In this season of extreme change, I am being stripped of all pretense. My challenges are big. My needs are extensive. I am a problem solver. Sounds like a time to take massive action, right?

These days I feel like God is asking me to be still. Be still, share my story with others, and expose my needs. Wait, what?

Be Still

I enjoy complex decision making. I enjoy deep thought and contemplation followed by swift and effective action. I am a doer.

Stillness, has never been a part of my practice. I have assessed and moved. I waited on no one and nothing. I am not afraid to put in work. Actually, I enjoy it. I enjoy feeling accomplished. Historically, the process of accomplishing isn’t my thing. Seeing results is.

I am an overcomer. I am a planner. I am not a bench player. I am on the court. I am in the action. I am getting things done. Not this time. My God who is able to do immeasurably more than I can think or imagine has asked me to sit and wait.

I believe that God wants to show me something and I wait in expectation. I am used to being self sufficient. Previously, I saw it as a strength. But our power is not as individuals, but as a community in Christ.

Share my story with others

A lot has happened in the last 7 years of my life. Through it all, I have grown immensely. Recently, I have given it over to God and I have experienced a freedom that too few people know. The greatest growth has been in my faith in understanding who God is and his plans for our lives. The life events and circumstances I find myself in are overwhelming when seen out of context. God places them in the right context.

Don’t get me wrong. I wrestle with this too frequently.  When I focus on my problems or on myself, it gets ugly. Doubt, self-pity, and fear show up immediately to rob me of my peace and hope. God’s way is better. I have felt his peace. I want to be in alignment with his peace and will.

These problems do not define me. They will refine me. So I keep my focus on God and release my problems to him. Daily, in my stillness, I am finding reasons to be grateful and give thanks.

Expose my needs

This was really hard. This is really hard. At baseline, I share selectively. I have shared increasingly more over the past 7 years. Exposing my needs is even more unsettling. The things that I have shared recently, have really challenged me. .

God has a plan

I have had to be open to the ways in which God would bless my family through others. I set aside preconceptions and pride. In whatever form help has been offered, we are receiving it with open arms.

Being a resident of Self- Reliantville, ME, it is a very hard adjustment to make, but I have seen friends and strangers bless my family with their generosity in all things. More than the things they gave- they shared their heart. Beautiful to witness. So grateful!

This situation I am in is bigger than me. Together, in Christ, we can handle anything.