The Day Before My Life Changed and a Gentle Endurance to Keep Going
I’ve been thinking back lately to what my life was like one year ago. Before the phone call to care for a precious baby. Before the sleepless nights and the busy days. Before the house was no longer clean, with everything in it’s neat and organized place. Before my life changed in a way I never knew that it could.
You never know when you are one moment away from your miracle. One phone call away. One envelope unopened in the mailbox. One conversation over lunch with a close friend. All it takes is one split second and your life can be changed.
The night before we opened our home to a four-month-old, was much unlike any other. Dinner, shower, relaxing on the couch before bed. If you asked my closest friends, they would probably tell you I had done all of that and was in my pajamas by 6pm. And they would most likely, not be wrong. No shame here.
The next morning, my husband and I set-out to work and went about our day like we had many others. Until the phone rang that afternoon, and I answered. Within an hour, we were responsible for a baby. A whirlwind of emotions for two individuals who had only babysat nieces and nephews and then returned them to their parents before bedtime.
Thinking back now, I had no idea how my life would change. No idea the road we would travel, filled with many highs and lows and potholes. Changes in plans (more times than I can count) and a test in patience and faith, both of which I didn’t know I would appreciate so much.
God has been teaching me a gentle endurance. This has not been a sprint, but rather a marathon. I’m training every day for a race that I do not know how or when will come to an end, but God is calling me to show up each day with a spirit of faith and perseverance. A call to love fiercely without bounds. And I’m all in.
None of us know when our life will come to an end. None of us know how some of our prayers will be answered earth-side. Maybe God is calling you today to show up with a gentle endurance. It’s not easy. It’s not fun to show up when the road is tough, or when you’re tired, or when you just want to know how things are going to work out. If I can encourage you at all, keep showing up. Keep giving yourself grace to persevere. The work you are doing matters and it is seen. One day soon, when Jesus returns, or when we are called to eternity forever, we will have answers to all of the hard and challenging times.
There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not thankful for this season. Hard as it may be sometimes, I’m thankful for the steadfast love of God that has strengthened me, provided for me, and given me the faith and courage I have needed for each step. I haven’t been able to pray for months and days ahead, I often need the help for each moment, and God has graciously shown up in more ways than I could have ever imagined. My friends are thrilled that I am no longer in my pajamas everyday by 6pm, my house is a bit messier than I would like, and all of my laundry baskets are overflowing at the same time, but I’m thankful. It’s a change I didn’t know would change me. And God knew that all along, that one phone call would create a gentle endurance for the road ahead.
Hebrews 10:35 - Hebrews 11:1
So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.
“For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
