Can I be honest?

I had big aspirations for this blog post - I felt confident that this series would be an easy assignment and that I could craft a pithy post that would be both humorous and applicable. 

But here I sit on a Sunday afternoon, with a full heart but few words to express what I am feeling. You see, it would be very easy to write the right words and give the impression that I have it all together. However, the truth is that I don’t have it together at all. 

It would probably be most honest to say that it has been a summer of feeling like my life is slowly and continually unraveling, like a spool of thread rolling down a never-ending hill.  

Maybe you can relate.

Maybe you’re like me, and you’re trying to keep your head on straight while keeping track of three adults, one teenage driver, a combined six jobs…and let’s not forget school, extracurriculars, serving at church, and social lives. Maybe you’re just the opposite, but you feel like you’re unraveling due to emptiness in your life through death, divorce, or a different type of loss. Or perhaps you feel like that spool of thread - constantly spinning through life without a chance to take a breath or a break.

No matter where you are coming from in life right now - whether you are feeling strong and like you have life together, or whether you feel like you are unraveling - here’s something to carry into the coming months:

Live in your season. 

One of my favorite authors, Kendra Adachi, shares this as one of her guiding principles in her book The Lazy Genius, and it continues to be a principle that is applicable no matter what the coming season looks like. What does it mean to live in your season? It means to embrace your current life and circumstances, decide what is important based on your current circumstances, and live life accordingly. 

Hebrews 12:1-2 says it another way: “Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” A common tactic for running is to break it down into smaller  segments - mile markers, landmarks, etc. Each season of our life is one of those segments, and living in our season is like running the race, but focusing on one particular segment of that race so that we don’t get overwhelmed by the enormity of the entire journey.

And here’s the key to it all: keeping our eyes on Jesus. I’m not gonna lie - I get dizzy at the thought of getting dizzy, and keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus while I am slowly unraveling requires that I continually refocus. I need to choose to fix my eyes on Jesus over and over, even when things are unraveling, even when life is dizzying. 

What does it look like for me to live in my season? Well, first, it means to embrace the unraveling, even though it is uncomfortable. This season simultaneously seems like a lot to coordinate and a lot of unknowns. Based on that, what’s important to me is to be very intentional about my time, saying “no” to some things for a season so that I can be more available to my family as well as more attuned to what God is teaching me through my slow unraveling. 

I would love to tie this post up neatly with a bow, but let’s face it: I’m slowly unraveling and my bow would be very untidy. However, I would love to hear your thoughts on how you intend to prayerfully live well in the coming season. Feel free to comment below or on this post or Alliance Women’s Facebook page!

To me, August can feel like an uphill climb towards the chaos of September. Whether you’re anticipating the start of school, sports, Bible studies, or the holidays, I’m sure you can relate. 

During August, we’ve asked our writers to focus on the theme SOS- Save our Sanity to remind us that we don’t have to feel this way! Christ offers us a life of peace and rest when we fix our eyes upon Him (John 14:27).

I hope you’re encouraged by the words of our writers as we realign our focus this August.

-Becca Fulcer Adult Ministries Program Coordinator