As I drove down the highway with the rain pelting the
window, I looked in the rearview mirror to see those sweet faces dancing to the
beat of the radio. And the tears came rolling down. The words carried such
weight for this particular time in my life, that I could barely catch my
breath.
We know we were made
for so much more than ordinary lives
It’s time for us to
more than just survive
We were made to
thrive.
I had been hardly surviving, but I’ve been called to thrive. I’d been so focused on the
present moment: the dirty dishes and never-ending laundry, the piles of dog
hair taking over my life, and the imperfect house, that I had forgotten our
purpose here: To bravely thrive in this broken world. To be the light.
But my story doesn’t start on that rainy day. It started the
day we up and moved our family from our comfy-cozy lifestyle with great friends
and a network as big as the Capitol building to depend on. It started when we
plopped ourselves in the (seemingly) middle of nowhere with no one to call on
for eggs, a quick chat or a reality check.
It was just the five of us. And a bunch of deer. And spiders
the size of my head.
Really.
But then He began to
provide.
Urging us to go to church one random spring morning in a
town we’ve never even heard of. Finding a realtor who understands our hearts,
and sought to make sure we were taken care of in not one, but two homes to live
in this year. Placing the sweet angel of a woman in a park on a random early
fall day, who had the courage to invite me to join a group of preschool moms
when I had no one to call ‘friend.’
I didn’t realize it at the time, but God was giving me
little chunks of courage. Little bite-sized morsels to tell me, “I’m here. Be brave, Kristin. You were
called to thrive in this place.”
Twelve months. It took me twelve months to see the
bravery in it all. Bravery in my life has been to take one step forward without
actually knowing what lies ahead: moving beyond fear and the comfort of the
known by reaching out praying for someone to catch me.
What I didn’t know that first day we travelled to our new hometown,
was what brave actually looked like.
I didn’t know bravery meant to do what the heartstrings of your soul were
telling you to do, even if it didn’t make sense. I didn’t know that bravery
meant asking for help in a community of women that already seem filled to the
brim with commitments to others. And I didn’t know bravery would lead to this very
place of stepping so far outside my comfort zone it makes my palms sweat.
So when the days wear on, the tantrums persist, and there
isn’t enough Frozen in the world to
get you through the day, let the tiny morsels of courage help get you through.
You’ll find that you’ll not only just survive. You’ll thrive.
