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In the last month or so a lot of things have changed. I intended to do one thing at the start of the year that morphed into plan B and then Plan C… Simply put the plan changed several different times in a very short amount of time. I guess in reality I shouldn’t be surprised because from the get-go God’s been doing something entirely different in my life than we thought, or even wanted. From being born three months early to being homeschooled and everything in between. It’s looked VASTLY different than I envisioned or wanted…but it’s good.
When the time came to contemplate my theme for 2020 and the different things that I wanted to work on and accomplish this year we toyed with a few words and phrases before finally settling on one of my favorite songs. This song holds a very special place in my heart. We almost played it at my graduation (we wanted to avoid making my Aunt cry…she cried despite the upbeat song we chose).
“Glorious Unfolding” by Steven Curtis Chapman
Considering that my life has never gone exactly how I wanted it to go this song has always meant something special to me. There was also that one time in college I was trying to align the film into the little holder so that I could print a photo. The film had to be perfectly aligned so that once it was printed it had a nice sharp black line around the actual picture. That was a LOT harder than it sounds. I was tired and pretty stressed.
Although I loved photography that class in college was the hardest one I had…worse than Chemistry (and I LOATHE math). I was listening to music and had my iPod on shuffle. As I’m literally close to tears because I just couldn’t get it aligned and it was taking a lot longer than I thought it should have…I heard this song…I couldn’t have known then what God had planned for me now. Or even what I would have been doing just a short year later…
When I listen to “Glorious Unfolding” one of the themes that comes to mind is Peace.
Trusting that God has a plan (Jeremiah 29:11) that will happen in HIS time for my good and His glory (Romans 8:28). As much as my inner planner wants to have everything figured out and my ducks aligned before I even take a single step sometimes God just wants us to be still…to know who He is and that NOTHING is too hard for Him to accomplish (See Genesis 18:14). Sometimes He wants us to “just…wait and see and…be amazed”.
As you may have guessed by now I am not a very patient person. I want what I want and I want it now. I’m not good at embracing the idea of waiting for God to show me His plan. Often times I’ll pray about a problem and then think of 500 different ways the problem could be solved. Instead of waiting for Him to show me which direction to go I pick the one that seems best to me. Hence the reason that over the past few years I’ve had to back track several times.
One of the things that I want to improve in this year is embracing where I’m at now and taking each day as it comes.
I don’t want to get caught up in reliving the past. I don’t want to waste my days worrying about the future (I do this TOO much and have missed out on a LOT of good things simply because I REFUSE to stop dwelling on the future). Instead of focusing on how So-and-So is getting to do this and that and I’m stuck here doing more of the same old thing, I want to focus on my blessings and the day that I am living today! How my life is a glorious unfolding; a wonderful work in progress!
My life is NOT perfect by any means. I don’t live the glamorous life of Instagram Influencers or Business Bigwigs. I’m just a small town(ish) girl in search of contentment in the life that God gave her. In reality I probably have more in common with you than I do with any big name business owner or blogger.
There are a lot of things I want to do this year.
I want to put my phone down more and choose to do something more productive than mindlessly scrolling; I want to learn to actually listen to others rather than just contemplating something else mentally while claiming I was listening. Another thing that I really need to work on is setting boundaries…
While working from home has its many advantages one area I really struggle in is learning to shut it off. There’s a good chance that I’m thinking about work 85% of the day regardless of if I’m actually “at work”. I love what I do but I often find myself envious of those who can actually LEAVE work at work. So, I’m looking at ways of intentionally making sure that I’m actually taking time off!
I’m anxious to see where God leads me this year. There are a lot of things that I don’t know the answers to yet. But I’m choosing to trust God and trust the process. I’m learning to “wait and see” and “watch and see”. In the end I’m sure that it will be a Glorious Unfolding!
What is something that you’re working on this year? Do you have a word, phrase or goal that you’re working toward in 2020? Share it below, I’d love to encourage you on the journey!
Until next time,
Bailey Sue
P.S. January can be a lonely time. The holidays are behind us, it’s dark and sometimes snowy. As a result it’s easy to forget how loved we are. If you need a reminder check out my book below. It’s available in E-book and paperback.
