A Life Worth Living

Skaploosh! And just like that my youngest has completed his grammar school years and is about to embark on another phase of his education. I want to ask, where did the time go?

How quickly these precious young years have gone by and admittedly, I don’t want to let go of them. I want them to linger, but cling to them I cannot. Time, this magical thief of youth has done it again. Time is forcing us all to move onto what comes next. Time is ushering us into change and with change comes growth.

Beginning Logic school is what comes next for my youngest and Teenage hood for my oldest. This new season brings many unknowns and though I could work myself up to a tizzy, I find I am rather calm. As we talked about transitions with my boys I noticed the posture of my heart was different this time. Two summers ago when my oldest was starting his own journey through logic I was riddled with anxiety. I found all the podcasts I could about pre-adolescence and adolescence. I read articles about middle school, I talked to friends. While some of this was very helpful information, the bottom line was, I was driving myself crazy, figuratively of course. What I remember about that summer was the nervousness and uncertainty I felt.

So what’s different this time ? Both boys are going through transitions but my heart is not disquieted within me. Why? I realized that though it’s normal to feel nervous or even anxious about the unknown, I allowed myself to linger in my fears for too long. In my mind even though I was doing what I can to prepare for the next stage, it wasn’t enough. Even though I was bringing my cares to Jesus, I would still pick them back up again. There was no rest!

What’s different? Instead of lingering on the unknown, I am choosing to rest in what I know. And this I Know, God is in every season, every change. There is not a lived experience that He has been absent. His presence like the air we breathe, is always there even when it goes unnoticed. Psalm 139 captures God’s omnipresence.

“If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”

Instead of trusting myself and my ever elusive emotions, I am choosing to trust God. The God who promises to work all things for the good of those who love Him. So no matter the mistakes or the growing pains this season brings, I can be confident that God will make something good out of it. In these two things my heart finds rest.

If you find yourself in a place of transition, rest in knowing that God is with you and trust His work on your behalf. It will be good!