The Motivating Chasm

A friend recently sent me a blog post that spoke straight to my soul...

Here are some of the excerpts...
"Moving on isn’t always about speeding enthusiastically forward so much as it’s about having one foot on the gas and the other on the brakes – releasing and accelerating in turn. You’re not a failure for getting to someplace amazing and still feeling like a part of yourself is missing once you get there. You’re not pathetic for mourning while you grow. The bad things don’t disappear in the blink of an eye and the good things don’t spring up into existence without reigning at least a tiny bit of collateral damage. It takes time for everything to even out. And it should.

We have to be patient with ourselves as we move through the parts in between the where we’ve been and where we’re going. We have to let the chasm motivate rather than dishearten us. It’s okay to not be there yet. It’s okay to be unsure of every step that you take forward. We don’t talk about how moving on sometimes feels like we’re fighting every part of our most basic instincts, but we should. We should talk about how growth is often every bit as painful as it is beautiful.

Because growth and letting go are so complexly intertwined that we often only see one or the other. We forget that they can exist side by side – releasing the old while letting in the new. We forget that we have the ability to do the exact same thing. And that if we’d only stop beating ourselves up over it, we might realize just how far we’ve already come."

Wow, I read that, and just sighed relief. It's always comforting when you read something that puts your own thoughts into words or your own emotions into concrete ideas. We all struggle with something. We all have our battles. Some are big, some are small. Some we defeat in a moment, and some we battle our entire lives, never to overcome. Maybe the goal is not always to focus on the finish line, maybe the Lord is testing our faith to see how we handle the race and journey in between. I can attest to this intertwining that the blog mentions. Some days I feel like I am on top of the world, I see my progress, I feel strong, bold, like I'm going to make it through this. Other days, I feel like I've taken 10 steps back, like I'm at ground zero, and get lost in the feeling of defeat.

But I love how that blog post called us to handle the complexly intertwining of our growth and letting go. Be patient. Show yourself some grace. Forgive yourself. Know that the Lord, Creator of the Universe, loves you unconditionally, and knows your struggle inside and out. He is with you through it all, and He is patient with you as you fight the battle. But the key is to remember you are not fighting it alone. God will help you fight it. You will see glimpses of His presence and help in little moments or big ways. He will send people into your life to speak encouragement to you at just the right time. He will show you favor at times when you feel like the whole world is against you. He will soften your aching heart with his comfort through a beautiful song, a warm summer day, or a friend's hug. That chasm between where you think you should be and where you are holds both beauty and disaster all in one, but it motivates us to keep pressing on into each day.

Out of Hiding

"I saw it all, still I chose the cross."

He saw it all, and still chose the cross for me. Incredible, indescribable grace....

"Oh as you run, what hindered love, will only become part of the story..."

I Need Thee Every Hour

Just discovered this beautiful harmonious song on GodTube.com a week or so ago. It is absolutely breath-taking. When I can't describe life's circumstances through words, I just let worship music speak for me. I am not meant to do life on my own strength. I need the Lord every single hour and moment of everyday. I need His strength, I need His grace and mercy, I need His forgiveness, I need His unconditional love. Through the struggles, He will not leave me and not forsake me. I feel His peace deep down inside of me even when the storm rages around me. I need thee, Lord, I need thee....

Look Through Each Other's Eyes....At Least For An Instant

The message in this video is so compelling. I have watched it numerous times this week. You never know what people are going through...what struggles they are enduring, what burdens they are carrying, what flaws they have, what mistakes they have made, what sins they are still making. As the video says,

"If you could stand in someone else's shoes,
          hear what they hear,
                    see what they see,
                              feel what they feel,
                                        would you treat them differently?"

I think we all would.

When My Works Are Not Enough

Do you ever feel like what you do in life just doesn't cut it? It doesn't make the mark? You are always messing up, making mistakes, or letting people down? Perhaps you didn't produce the quality work that your boss was looking for at your job, or you took a project in a different direction than your boss had in mind and he asked you to do it over. Or what about your home life? Are you always trying to meet the approval of your significant other? Trying to check off some list to do things right and meet their expectations? Maybe your spouse asked you to fix up the yard, or cook a meal, or do an errand. You do it, and it doesn't meet their expectations. They get angry and it turns into a fight. Or let's say your parents require you to get a job for the summer and you get a waitressing job and they don't approve of it. Or they expect you to go to college, but you have other plans, so they express their disappointment. You feel nothing you can do can satisfy them or make them happy. You feel unloved. You feel tired of trying to meet their expectations. People and life place these demands on us daily. We live in a society that is so focused on our accomplishments, what we do, our successes....our works.