Big Monday

One of my best friends, Anna, sent me this devotional in an email this morning and I am just now getting around to reading it. It was so incredibly appropriate for how I am feeling right now and have felt for the past couple of days. Hope some of you going through transitions can relate.

The devotional is from the "She Seeks" devotional series found here. I just copied and pasted the text from the website. What a great end to my hectic and really big (but good) day.

My first day of work was uneventful... lots of listening and asking questions as well as getting my computer set up and learning how to use my super-cool headset. I have been doing lots of fun paperwork tonight and trying to relax and not think about getting up at 6:30 am.. Did I mention it got dark here at 4:30 pm? So much for trying to have a life after work!

Anyways, hope you enjoy the devotional! I'm beginning to think my "big round brush" is my cable that connects my TV to my DVD player... or my newly put together bookcase.. hmmm...

big round brush...

I rummaged through the box labeled “bathroom stuff” for the third time, still unable to find what I was looking for. I was in a new apartment, in a new city, about to start a new job, and I was in desperate need of finding my most cherished and valued possession: my big round brush.

{I don’t want to sound overly dramatic here, but the hot, humid climate was a new thing for me—and my hair—killing any volume I once had. That brush was my only chance at adding a little lift to my lifeless do.}

I sat down on my half-made bed in my half-decorated room staring out into the abyss of overflowing suitcases, unopened boxes and piles of clothes against the backdrop of empty walls. Suddenly, the ‘cool’ that I had so tactfully maintained during this whole transitional move (my fourth in seven years) began to unravel like a spool of thread rolling down a staircase. I realized right then and there that my frustration wasn’t about my silly big round brush (although I still hoped to find it). It was about learning to cope with the surge of emotions that accompany any major life change: unstable, uncertain, unsettled. You name it, I was feeling it.

As a twenty-something with many life changes, you can probably relate. These, we are told, are some of our best years and yet they are often accompanied by major transitions as we move forward in establishing our place in the world: graduations, new jobs, opportunities, relationships, new apartments or houses and for some, even new roles and responsibilities as wives and moms. Exciting?Absolutely. But it doesn’t mean the winds of change don’t bring challenges along the way as we take steps to grow into the women God has called us to be.

So what are we to do when we find ourselves overwhelmed with emotions or overtaken by fears — trying to find comfort and security in things like big round brushes? We can take a step back, take in a deep breath and remind ourselves that in Christ, we are secure. There is no other thing or person besides Jesus who can bring the security, safety and stability that our hearts truly long for in this often chaotic world in which we live.

Whatever your surroundings are looking like this moment, know this:in Christ, you are secure. Daily meditating on and memorizing these truths can be the best way to keep the knowledge of this, close:

• I am a child of God (1 John 3:1-3)
• I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)
• I am complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)
• I am assured that all things work together for good (Romans 8:28)
• I cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39)
• I am confident that the good work God has begun in me will be perfected (Philippians 1:6)
• I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me (1 John 5:18)
• I have been chosen and appointed by God to bear fruit (John 15:16)
• I can find grace and mercy to help in my time of need (Hebrews 4:16)
• I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)

Let the truth of who you are in Christ dwell in you richly until it renews your mind and penetrates every fiber of your being. You are secure in Christ!

Resources…

Paul prays in Ephesians 1:18, “…that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”

Ta ta,