Who do I want to be when I grow up? In this week’s Monday Minute, Rachelle encourages us to use this question to rise up from disappointments, grief, PCS moves, and a whole host of other things life throws at us.
Who Do I Want to Be when I Grow Up?
by Rachelle Whitfield
I have a secret…ssshhhh…don’t judge.
I don’t always trust God.
We are wrapping up a PCS after being overseas for five years. And this one has been a challenge for me. My attitude has not been quite right.
I look at every move as an opportunity to improve, make some desired changes, break some bad habits, and create some new ones. “Who do you want to be when you grow up?” is one of our family mottos. No matter how old you are, you will always grow a little older, you will fail and recover, you will face challenges that will make you grow.
I quietly cried looking out the plane window as we flew over the ocean, mourning our departure from a country I had fallen in love with and didn’t want to leave. My sweet adult son took my hand and said, “Momma, who do you want to be when you grow up?” We laughed about it because I have said that to him a hundred times when things were difficult and hard choices had to be made. But inside I was saying when do I stop having to grow up. (NEVER!)
Part of my mourning was leaving a job I loved.
God had opened an amazing door of opportunity when I was selected soon after arriving in country. I was working in my passion and with my gifts. If you have been around the military any time then you know the challenge it is for military wives to build a moveable career and often the word “impossible” is used when attempting to find employment in a overseas location. Getting one doing something you love, are passionate about, and falls within your God-given gifts and talents can only be contributed to God.
But you see that’s how God has shown up every step of the way. He has shown up in amazing ways, exceedingly, abundantly and beyond anything I could imagine. So why when it’s time for the next step, jump, leap, do I doubt he is going to show up? When I am in a season of doubt James 1:2-3 are the verses that go on a post it note stuck to my bathroom mirror, the car dashboard, or my computer monitor.
“Count it all joy, my brothers , when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
As I wait patiently, okay maybe not so patiently, I wait knowing and reminding myself, since the day I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior, He has never ever left my side. And each test and trial I seek Him through my faith grows.
While I wait, I take these steps…
Rise Up
Pray. Pray for His wisdom, pray for his will, and pray for peace and patience.
Journal. Who do I want to be when I grow up? Do I need to do something to accomplish that? Do I need some training? Can I volunteer to develop a specific skill set? Bonus: Watch for God to answer our hearts’ desires.
Train. Read my Bible daily. Next secret, when I am working full-time and during some seasons of life I don’t read my Bible every day. Don’t get me wrong, not a day goes by that I don’t hear His Word but some days it is a quick devotional reading or a message on the Christian radio station on the way here or there. Other days it comes through a song playing on repeat for the day or a podcast while cooking dinner or getting ready for bed. But nothing replaces the treasured times when I am focused and reading His words daily.
Network. Don’t isolate. Join a Bible study, join a play date or exercise group, and/or volunteer in your community on base or off base. Many of my greatest opportunities to grow professionally came through “networking”, volunteering, and socializing doing the things I love and am passionate about.
When I grow up I want to be like Christ. I want to leave a trail of love, hope, and joy in every room I walk through that could only come from Him.
Prayer
Lord, Thank you. Thank you for your many provisions at every step of my journey. I ask you to go before me and open the doors and opportunities You already have planned for me. I ask for the wisdom and discernment to know when it is you opening a door and creating an opportunity or when it is me not trusting Oh, Lord you know me and I ask for peace and patience while I trust you. I ask all of these things in your name. Amen.
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