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A Matter of Perspective

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” 
Romans 8:18 NIV
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Getting from Point A to Point B is seldom by way of a straight path. Life throws in a few curves to keep things interesting, then the unexpected happens. Our choices of whether to respond or react are where the rubber meets the road. We can choose to lean in or freak out. Skirt by or sideswipe. Hold it in the road or hit the wall. Our attitudes will make or break us. Check your Tude-o-Meter by considering the following list. Will the gage read half-full or half-empty?

problem or opportunity
necessary or unnecessary
limited or unlimited
qualified or unqualified
sense or nonsense
valuable or worthless
secure or insecure
obstacle or challenge
possible or impossible
satisfactory or unsatisfactory
bitter or better
freedom or captivity
privilege or entitlement
serious or trivial
simple or complicated
rich or poor
capable or incapable
competition or personal best

As you walk through your day, view potential stumbling blocks as stepping stones to elevate your thinking.

Go ahead. Step up. Take your time. I’ll wait…

There now. Better?

Look around you. How’s the view? Do you see a hopeless end or an endless hope?

It’s all a matter of perspective.

 

Blessings,

Starr

Savoring Your Season: Even In Waiting

Life is full of seasons other than spring, summer, fall and winter. Childhood, adolescence, and adulthood; single, dating, engaged and married. We have healthy and unhealthy seasons, ones of flourishing and of pruning, and every high and low in between. I’ve been one to say I’m in a season of waiting just as often as I say I’m in a season of going. Too often, we lose sight of the present season for looking too much on the seasons past or future. Let’s take some time this week to be honest about our seasons – mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally – and learn to savor and soak in where we are now.

 

Even In Waiting

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart…

fridayEcclesiastes 3:11

Waiting is one of my least favorite things in the world, yet I feel like I am always waiting on something. Whether it’s a vanilla latte or a visa in my passport, a Prince Charming or a new job, waiting seems to be a constant in my life.

Too often we have the wrong perspective on waiting. We get stuck in the mentality that “Life will finally start when _____:” I get promoted. I get married. I buy a house. You fill in the blank with whatever it is that you’re waiting on. I’m so guilty of functioning under the belief that happiness and ability to serve the Lord only comes when all of my ducks are in a row, but that’s just not the case.

Every season is deliberate and infused with God’s presence, and it’s ours for the taking. We can choose to be present in our seasons of waiting, but too often we catch glimpses of what’s ahead or think we know what we want to happen and then lose sight of what is here and now. We push and barrel forward, praying for a change in seasons, and miss what is right in front of us.

We were created with an ache for a different season because God has put eternity in our hearts. The desire we feel for what’s next is rooted in God’s desire for us, that we would seek first the Kingdom and chase after the home awaiting us.

Our mortal lives will always be marked by waiting for what’s next, but we can learn to be present in the waiting. We can learn to seek and praise God in each season of waiting, to take what His hands have dealt and to worship in the in-betweens of life.

We will find the most fulfillment when we are living out God’s will for us in the seasons He has placed us in. Choosing to seek His higher perspective on our current circumstances and taking His view on our seasons rather than our own makes all the difference.

Chelsey

Savoring Your Season: To Ordinary & Beyond

Life is full of seasons other than spring, summer, fall and winter. Childhood, adolescence, and adulthood; single, dating, engaged and married. We have healthy and unhealthy seasons, ones of flourishing and of pruning, and every high and low in between. I’ve been one to say I’m in a season of waiting just as often as I say I’m in a season of going. Too often, we lose sight of the present season for looking too much on the seasons past or future. Let’s take some time this week to be honest about our seasons – mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally – and learn to savor and soak in where we are now.

 

To Ordinary & Beyond

For I have learned in whatever situation I am in to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Philippians 4:11-12

mondayI spent the year after my college graduation traveling the world in the name of Jesus. It was an incredible season of life: ever-changing, ever-adventurous, ever-growing. And then one day, it was over. In the snap of my fingers I went from a time where I could stand in two countries at once to living in my parents’ house again, and I didn’t know what to do with it. In my journals, I referred to my consistently bored and nostalgic demeanor as my “Post-Incredible-Season-Disorder.”

At times in our lives we get to walk with God in something new – new places, new relationships, new ministry or new job opportunities – and every day seems like another new adventure. Those are truly incredible seasons, seasons that we should embrace and celebrate. But we also have to acknowledge and accept that, like all seasons, it ends and leads to another.

I had been so immersed in “extraordinary” (though, most of those extraordinary days were steeped in ordinary things) that “ordinary” was boring. A “normal” schedule in a “normal” home made me roll my eyes. I fell into a lie that this new ordinary life of waking up, going to work and coming home for dinner wasn’t enough.

The truth is, our faith is born in the ordinary. I mean, literally, Jesus was born to an ordinary girl in an ordinary town in an ordinary stable. Our faith grows in “ordinary” Bible reading and in ordinary fellowship with ordinary believers.

Living an extraordinary life isn’t rooted in the places we go, the people we know, or how adrenaline-inducing our daily lives may be. Living an extraordinary life is rooted in the extraordinary One who is leading the way.

Life with Jesus makes an ordinary 9-5 work day extraordinary. It gives every carpool line significance and adds meaning in the most mundane tasks of doing the dishes, cleaning out the car, or making the bed.

A little perspective can go a long way, and when we choose to see our season of life with our eyes on the One who walks with us, He makes all things extraordinary.

Chelsey