"This will all make sense when I am older
Someday, I will see that this makes sense
One day when I'm old and wise
I'll think back and realize That these were all completely normal events"
These words are sung by the playful snowman named Olaf in the movie Frozen 2, during a rather scary experience of being lost in an enchanted forest and not quite knowing what is happening around him. While most of us tend to chuckle with sympathy over his seemingly naive outlook, I have to admit that I'm pretty sure I have held on to some similar beliefs myself.
In reality, there are plenty of things that do make a little more sense when we look back on them than they do as we're going through them. Maybe you struggled as a teenager when your best friend moved away, but years later you can see how the experience helped you to grow and develop new friendships that you otherwise would not have likely had. Or perhaps you didn't get into the college you were hoping to get into, and though it was devastating at the time, you ended up with an extra year to work - and during that time you discovered your love of gardening that led you to a totally different college and career.
Still, despite the fact that certain parts of our lives do make more sense as we look back on them (as they say, hindsight is 20/20), there are other aspects in which I'm becoming more and more convinced that I might not actually ever fully figure them out. Or if I do, it might take a lot longer than I used to think it would.
For example, though I wouldn't have necessarily voiced it or consciously thought it, I'm pretty sure that I long held onto the assumption that I really would eventually figure out how to have the perfect routines. The perfect morning routine, the perfect evening routine, the perfect how-to-get-everyone-out-of-the-house routine, the perfect laundry routine, etc. It's out there, I thought. I just have to find it!
So I'd try a routine with this or that area of life, and it would work for a while. Until it stopped working. And then I'd generally feel discouraged for a while, until I got a new idea. This will work! I would think. This will be the one! And again it would work. Until it didn't. And on and on it would go. Endless cycles of continuing to try to find the ever-elusive perfect routine. The one that would outlast and outshine all the others.
But here's a crazy thought - what if the vast majority of the time, I'm not meant to find that "perfect routine"? What if what I'm really called to do is just the next right thing?
Of course I'm not trying to say that routines are all bad and I should abandon the entire idea of ever having any. Routines are great, and I am pretty sure I need them. But maybe I can let go of this idea that eventually I'll find one that works forever. Maybe my routines are more like seasons - I use one until the weather changes and then the next one will come. All the while, my biggest job is to do whatever the next right thing is to do, whether that is starting a new routine or continuing with the one I have or sometimes, not even thinking about my routines at all.
If you have something in your life that you keep hoping you will eventually figure out, maybe when you're older it will indeed make more sense, or maybe it won't. But while you wait to see what happens, pray that God will keep helping you to take one step at a time. And rest assured that this is all He ever calls you to do anyway.
Pray with me...
... Father, help all in the ACSD community to learn how to follow You one step at a time
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105
.... Jesus, remind all of us that You are with us through every season
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:20b
... Holy Spirit, give wisdom to all who need it, to know what steps You are calling us to take
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:26
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and pray for Alliance Christian School District! Lord willing, I plan to publish a new blog post weekly throughout the school year. Feel free to subscribe (at the bottom of this page) if you'd like to be notified each time a new blog post has been published. We also have a prayer team that is always open for new pray-ers to join. If you'd like to learn more, email me at cwarner@alliancechristian.org.
~ Carrie Warner, ACSD Prayer Team Coordinator
Soli Deo Gloria
To God alone be the glory
