Our last day to live in the year 2009...what will we do today? This last year has been a year full of pleasures, joys, sadness and troubles, yet it is probably like most of my prior years. Lots of changes in my family this year, kids changed schools, started working, stopped working, healthy, ate gluten TWICE and got sick again, friends move...lots of changes. With all the changes it makes me feel unsettled, in a fluid motion I would say. I don't do well with changes. I like things more constant, firm and grounded. It makes me feel secure that way...when I can "predict" and "control" my life. As the year went on and the changes came my way, I would try and figure a way to bring everything back to normal and stable again. VERDICT: I created a lot of inner turmoil for myself and for my sweet family around me.
My sweet husband shared something with me during one of my battles of normalcy and told me in a nutshell that I just need to "Embrace the Change". I had no earthly idea what he was talking about. He shared more with me that I needed to trust in the plans the Lord has given me, trust that He wants the best for me and trust that with God we will all be okay. He was so right. I started falling in love with the word "EMBRACE". Here is what the dictionary says about the word embrace;
1. to take or clasp in the arms; press to the bosom; hug.
2. to take or receive gladly or eagerly; accept willingly: to embrace an idea.
3. to avail oneself of: to embrace an opportunity.
4. to take in with the eye or the mind.
5. to encircle; surround; enclose.
I like the second definition, to take or receive gladly or eagerly, accept willingly. That was my answer. I need to trust God. I need to trust in the plans He has for me. I need to embrace the life and circumstances He has for my life and for those whom I love. I need to know that regardless of the current unknowns, that whatever He makes known, I can trust in Him and that He loves me and those I care about...so what can change that...NOTHING! So, for the New Year I am going to work on embracing, not controlling my life.
A thought came to mind when I wrote that. When I embrace, it doesn't mean I sit back and do nothing in my life. It means that I still seek God for the direction of my life, I seek God for wisdom in the decisions that I make, I seek God for His will in my life and then I LIVE, I MAKE DECISIONS, AND I FOLLOW HIS WILL...all the while I embrace the life that unfolds in the process...
Yesterday I had much needed quiet time with the Lord and asked Him to help give me a new perspective on the upcoming year. I didn't want to go about my life doing the same things and expecting different results. I knew that my perspective needed pruned, watered and fed by our Lord Jesus in order for it to change.
So that is my prayer, a new perspective, a God given perspective to live each day according to His will and to live each day with a thankful, and joyful heart. My prayer is to embrace each day and the circumstances that surround me with the strength of the Lord.
Happy New Year!
