A few months ago, I became a contributor for Embracing Marriage – a new site that branched off of Embracing Beauty. I’m so pleased to be part of Ashley’s vision for the Embracing community. I finally got my contributor act together and have my first post up today!
You can read some reflections on my first year of marriage (hint: they have to do with changes and challenges) and then explore all of the Embracing sites…
When my mind gets set on something, there’s very little that can stop me from running full speed ahead towards the desired end. On some levels this enthusiasm (as I like to call it…) is a wonderful attribute. I can attack a to-do list like nobody’s business and I my goals get accomplished most of the time. However, my so called enthusiasm can turn into impatience all too quickly and that doesn’t serve me well.
My enthusiasm and impatience has led to some serious circumstance manipulation. I have a picture of what I’d like to happen and I will do anything within my power to see that picture realized in full color. God’s will is often forsaken or just plain forgotten when I get that bee in my bonnet about something – not a good practice for the life, fully submitted to God’s plan, that I actually want to lead.
On a recent rereading of Ruth, one little phrase jumped out and spoke directly to my tendency to trample God’s will in favor of my own desires. I’m over on Kindred Grace today, explaining this one little phrase. I hope you’ll pop over and let me know if you can relate!
Four months ago, I got a thoughtful Facebook message from someone I had never met. Now there’s only two months separating us from grabbing coffee in person. Today’s post is written by sweet Katie of A Thousand Little Choices – author of that Facebook message. Turns out she hails from Coeur d’Alene and is family to the worship pastor at our church. World’s collide. I love having her heartfelt voice on Primitive Roads!
Our various experiences are meant by our Heavenly Father to furnish fresh viewpoints from which we may see the loveliness of Jesus.
Charles Spurgeon
Has your heart been troubled lately? Have you been plagued by blustery seasons? In the midst of them have you wondered and asked the question, “why?” “Why, God, why would you let this season of life plague me now?”
You’re not alone if you’re asking such questions.
I have had many outpourings of my soul during difficult times. I wondered what my King was thinking while I cried each night during my years and years of singleness. I had struggles in college and after graduation, when my family was being torn apart and even now, a difficult season is on the horizon. Though I hate to admit this, I often asked the question “why, God?” A normal question, but unfortunately my heart had the wrong glasses on.
In the midst of asking “why” and beating our heads and hearts against the waves of pain, we often lack seeing the many details that come with unwanted seasons. What if I told you they are love stories? The times of tempestuous storms are all stories written in love. What would you say then?
I laughed at first, but then beautiful Emily told me her two words this year were community and intentional. I love those words and my heart started praying for ways to incorporate them in my own life. Community, thats a tough one being a transplant in Philadelphia, but Intentional captured my soul. I sat down and started writing all the ways I could be intentional in my life. Unfortunately, with our move (you can read about it here) and lack of community, I couldn’t come up with much. Then it hit me. This current state, this unwanted season, it is much more.
When we start to look at God in all that is happening around us, you see how intentional and loving He is. For years, I’ve known that He has been writing my life, chapter by chapter. Now, I’m not facing trials – no, life trials are really intentional love stories, written by a Great Author.
This is the first unwanted season of my life that I have looked at differently. I finally see that God knows exactly what I am dealing with. Though our eyes are misty and our souls are tired, we can rest in the intentional loves stories of life. Time is never wasted, experiences are never forgotten, and God has walked the path of this story before. He hears your hearts cry. He is constantly there with you, and you shall never walk alone.
He has been the Author this whole time, writing gorgeous stories with courageous characters and the most beautiful of settings. Think about the last time your tempestuous season came. You might have thought, “I can’t do this anymore”, but look at you now, getting ready to face the hardest moments in life. He thought you were strong enough, brave enough and courageous enough to face them.
With His writing, love, and grace, we can get through the storms that are soon to come. I hope you can turn them around and look at them as great, passionate, intentional stories of love.
Oh child of God! If you could only see your sorrows and troubles from the other side; if instead of looking up at them from earth, you would look down on them from the heavenly places where you sit with Christ; if you knew how they are reflecting in prismatic beauty before the gaze of heaven, the bright light of Christ’s face, you would be content that they should cast their deep shadows over mountain slopes of existence.
Selected
Katie Sjogren is a twenty-something living in Philadelphia, PA with her sweet husband Jordan. Katie is an avid choice maker, Starbucks consumer, chunky sweater wearer, blustery weather lover, and deep conversation maker. You can read more about Katie & Jordan’s life on her blog, A Thousand Little Choices, where they choose joy, follow Christ and live fearlessly for love.
(photo credit–Pamela Moore, Getty Images)
One of the very best things about this May is having a mini family reunion this weekend to celebrate the marriage of my cousin. Since not everyone gets to enjoy such a fun gathering, here are some other good things trolled from the interwebs this month.
Simplicity:
People who chronically multitask have lost the ability to focus on one thing – and they’re actually terrible at mutlitasking…. Interesting article on NPR (man I love public radio) about the myth of multitasking.
When -est should be -er and how that gives us the freedom to live simply.
Books:
I’m a book list junkie. Relevant Magazine has a great list of 10 books everyone should read by 25-ish. I think one of them might be our first book club book. Have you read any of them?
I love Heather’s idea to reinvent what classifies as classic literature for her 25 in 25 list.
Michael Hyatt’s podcast about how to read non-fiction was inspiring.
Marriage:
A New Kind of Sexy is honest and we need more of that when talking about marriage.
So we fought for it. We stumbled on redemption in the unlikely sexy acts of taking out the smelly-diaper trash, going to marriage counseling, and texting each other apologies for misspoken harsh words.
Beth of Red and Honey
And more honest reflection from Tyler Ward with 3 Things I Wish I Knew Before We Got Married.
Etc:
I’ve been there – wanting someone to fully understand why I left my heart overseas…
Because I’m a sucker for articles about the twenty-something stage of life – here’s a good one by Anne Bogel.
Hysterical iMessage version of Chapter 5 in Jane Austen’s Persuasion.
I LOVE McGriddles. Can’t wait to try these.
I’ve been waiting for this for six months. Summer has arrived in Northern Idaho! Well, that’s a bit optimistic – let’s just say Spring is in full swing with it’s sudden showers, new growth, and increase in sunshine. I’m okay with that.
On this brighter side of our four seasons, I’ve become more appreciative of the weather’s ebb and flow over the past nine months. I look back at the Winter with some fondness for the pretty, fresh snow and the chilly wind as an excuse to drink hot cocoa and make soup. (Please remind me of this come November…)
As I’ve begun acclimating to Idaho’s seasonal changes, I’ve begun to notice some personal habits morph with the seasons as well. The warmer weather has a powerful influence on how I spend my time. Where Winter prompted me to hibernate with books and movies, Summer has pulled me outside with walks and projects around the house. Those seem to be natural shifts, but I was a surprised to note a shift in my blogging habits too.
Writing isn’t just a hobby, it’s a necessary means for me to process life. So, to see my main outlet for writing drop in frequency made me pause. It was hard not to feel like I had failed somehow – I wasn’t on top of my blog schedule or keeping up with social media outlets as much. How could I call writing a passion if it didn’t consume me regardless of the season?
The truth was revealed in the very definition of a season: a period of the year characterized by a particular climatic feature or marked by a particular event or activity. Just like I’m beginning to see the beauty of our changing weather patterns, I’m also beginning to see the importance of changing rhythms in my personal life. Some periods of my life will have different priorities and activities; I need to make space in my life for those natural changes to occur.
The electric green of new growth in Spring wouldn’t be possible without the frost of Winter nights. Autumn’s deep hues are a lovely contrast to the technicolor landscape of Summer come October. Letting words flow for hours during the long evenings of a cold winter breathes life into my soul just as much as working in the back yard on a warm summer afternoon. I need both the feast of writing and famine of silence to keep my passion alive and healthy.
Making space in these shifting seasons requires grace. It means having open hands with the way I spend my time, allowing God to direct those priorities and activities as He sees fit. As much as I like to, I can’t allow my expectations or a previous routine dictate the standards of each new season.
What does that mean for Primitive Roads? I’ll still be navigating this unpaved path with you, just on a less regimented basis. I have two writing projects (an ebook! and this year’s 31 Day Challenge posts) that I’ll be focusing on this summer, but Primitive Roads will not be forgotten.
How are you embracing the rhythms of this new season?
photo credit: pedrosimoes7 via photopin cc
Emily C Gardner 