C H A O S

I woke up this morning to some very loud noises outside my window. I looked 
out to see about 6 or 7 trucks literally destroying our road at 6:30 in the morning.
Not my kinda wake up call, that's for sure.
I tried to go back to sleep on my sleep-in morning, but without much success.
I climbed out of bed and headed to the kitchen for some coffee.

As I got ready for work this morning I started feeling very overwhelmed.

Not because of the road, if that's what you're thinking.
But because of the road in my heart. 

There is so much change and messiness in my life at the moment.
We haven't had a kitchen for a long time now, we've been working on the
basement for a year now, meaning our home is, honestly, {un}organized chaos.
A ton of really close friends moved away, I'm working full time, and I don't see the
dear people in my life nearly like I used to. I'm learning {slowly, ha!} how to adult. ;)
It's a big season of change for a lot of people these days. All the people in my life are
experiencing change; some good, some hard, but all for the chance to learn and
grow in our walk with Jesus. 

As I was thinking about this messiness, it hit me... That road outside isn't
going to fix itself. In fact, someone has been in long thought process to decide
it needed redone. They didn't just wake up one morning and decide to tare up
an entire street. It's been a work in the making. 

On the contrary, it's not going to fix itself. Someone is going to have to put a lot
of work into it. And most of its not easy work. It's going to cost a lot of people
sweat, time and energy. But the product at the end, will be so worth it. 

My life, your life, can sometimes be a mess. Just like this morning when it hit me
how much change is going on in life, that didn't mean all that change happened
right then. It's been a work in progress. God has been working His plan.
He saw I needed some re-doing, some personal maintenance. He knows what and
why He is bringing me through so much change. 

I have the power through Christ to decide today to embrace change and move full force
into it. I have the power through Christ to work through the baggage I have carried.
I have the power through Christ to completely own-it beautifully in this season of
life through worship and praise rather than sulking and pouting. I don't have to
worry. I have the power through Christ to overcome what hurts, no matter how
bad it hurts, or how hard it stings.
I can step out and look forward to the beautiful masterpiece that He is creating in me. 

W H A T • A R E • Y A • G O N N A • DO?

Let's get real for a second. 

I wish I could go back. 

I wish I could go do the past year and a half over again. 

It's not that I didn't learn or grow from it, because I truly truly have. 

If I could go back, I could do so many things differently. 

I would listen harder. I would hug tighter. I would be a little more crazy.  I would talk to Jesus way more and dig even deeper in His words. I would love more, and cherish my loved ones more than ever. Instead of staying inside, I'd go dance in the rain. I'd sing a little louder and definitely SMILE much much brighter. 

I expressed this to a friend yesterday and she asked me 9 simple words.

"So what are you going to do about it?"

The truth is I cannot go back. It's impossible for us to relive our life experiences and walk them out differently. 

The good news is, we get to heed our past experience and use it to grow us. That experience can change our outlook on life and help us to do it a little better next time... And the next... And the next. 

The truth is I wish I could change a lot of things. 

But I can't, and that's ok. 

So what are YOU gonna do about your regrets? The things that you wish you could have done better? 

We can sulk. We can have a little party of pity... Or we can choose to move forward and learn from our past! We can choose Jesus in the morning when we wake, all through our days and before we go to rest. 

I don't know about you, but I want to choose the latter. In fact, that's what I'm gonna do. 🙌🏼