The Next Thing
The past four years of my life have been largely fixated on the Next Thing.
The boyfriend... The fiancé... The wedding... The marriage...
The move to Bend... The move back to Medford... Four homes/apartments in four years...
The sweet baby girl... the new baby boy...
The retail store to manage...The return to ministry... The new church...
These are all wonderful and exciting changes that have taken place in our life over the course of the past four years. They have kept us busy and, at times, distracted. Busy is not bad. But when they become distracting- well, that is when the Next Thing become dangerous.
Last night, my husband and I were presented with another chance to move homes again... There was more than one reason that it made sense- financially, locationally... And yet, we just couldn't reach a peace about it. So we decided the answer, for now, was no.
I wanted to move. It seemed exciting. And new. And, honestly, I don't think it would have been such a bad thing. God's grace is bigger than all of our steps and all of our missteps.
But I just couldn't shake the feeling that He was calling me to stop looking for The Next Thing- and to start letting Him be The Next Thing. The Main Thing. The Only Thing, really, that matters.
It's so funny, isn't it, how quickly we are dissatisfied with The Next Thing once we have it?! It is so easy for me to look toward my third (hypothetical) child- when my second is only six months old!! I am so quick to scan craigslist for homes- when, we've only been in ours one year. The list could go on of "Next Things" that preoccupy me- not bad things, but things that pull me from where I could be today.
I have to say, I feel a great peace right now. This is the first time in years that I'm not looking to some major life transition just around the corner. And that excites me. Because I don't need a new house or a new child or a new car or new clothes- none of that will bring me joy. I have this feeling that something wonderful awaits me right where I am at, because of Who I am with.
So excited for nothing to change, and everything to change while I allow Christ to be my Next Thing.
This is funny, because I recently had to instruct one of my piano girls to play the piece with her thoughts on the notes she was playing at the time and not on just the last measure! Why would the composer take all that time to add such glorious notes and chords, such harmony and symphony, if all that was important was the final note. If each bar, each measure, glorifies the composer, then the song should be played more slowly in a focused and magnifying way! Wheee!
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