The transition into any new season can be a challenging. There are so many unanswered questions and for people like me, who hate change, it can be especially hard. I am the type of person who loves the expected. I love safe places, boundaries and normalcy, I am not big on surprise parties or surprises in general. Well, I guess you can say I am one of those boring types of people – you know, the predictable type. I think that the same can be true for many of us. There is a part of us that just likes to know what to expect. When we are transitioning into a new season, there is just NOTHING expected about that journey!
One of the most important things you can do for yourself as you move forward is to diligently seek and search until find yourself again. You MUST to find YOU again. Here is what I have found to be true. Finding ourselves again, after a trauma, pain or change, is hard, and we will never be able to do it, if we are not intentional about that it. You are too important to let “YOU” disappear. Many of us are simply putting one foot in front of the other, trying to make ends meet, surviving day by day, barely coping. Her is what the Lord says about you,
”For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11
Yes, you may be going through an unexpected life change, but that does not mean God has forgotten about you or counted you out! He has plans for you. He can and desires to use you. He has gifts and talents implanted inside you. He wants you to use those for His glory. So where do you begin?
You begin with healing. There are some steps to healing that you want follow to begin to work through the healing process. First and foremost: be patient. Healing is a process, miracles occur instantaneously. A scab doesn’t say you are healed; it says there is healing in process taking place on the inside. Remember our hearts, our emotions, our soul, all of our brokenness, suffering, hurt, and pain is housed inside of us. That is where we must be healed. Sometimes healing can take a long time, hear me clearly, it is not impossible to be heal from your hurt. All things are possible with God. I am a living and breathing testimony to that truth!
After you have worked through your healing, you must begin to dream again. Yes, you read that right – dream again. You have dreams inside you that you have put on the back burner or tucked them away deep inside you. If you’re a parent, you understand how we have no problem empowering our children with their dreams, but when it comes to empowering ourselves to follow our own dreams, we brush it off! We say, “Yes, Johnny, you can be the next President. Absolutely, you can open your own law firm, be a business owner, become a musician,” we are our children’s biggest cheerleader. Yet, somehow along the way, the pressures of life took our ability to dream for ourselves! As a parent, the best thing you can do for your children is to accomplish your own goals and dreams. What better testament of God’s power and strength living through you than to work towards a God-given dream and actually accomplish it, with His strength?!
The best thing I can tell you about learning yourself again, finding yourself, and embracing the season you are in is to trust God with your future. FULLY trust God! Things may not look like you thought they would have. Your circumstance may be different than you expected, it may be harder than you ever thought it would be, be reassured that your God is still on the throne. He is still with you, still making a way for you, and your best days are yet ahead. God had not been derailed by a temporary set-back in your life. Now, that is surly good news for you! Lay down the worry, the anxiety about your future, and fully trust the Creator of the universe. He has the master plan, He can plan for us, far better than we could ever do for ourselves.
Jennifer Maggio is a mom to three, wife to Jeff, and founder of the national nonprofit, The Life of a Single Mom Ministries. She is author to four books, including The Church and the Single Mom. She was named one of the Top 10 Most Influential People in America by Dr. John Maxwell in 2017 and 2015 and has appeared in hundreds of media venues, including The New York Times, Family Talk Radio with Dr. James Dobson, Joni and Friends, and many others.
