It has been another whirlwind of a month. Our baby girl is a month and a half old, my husband and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary, and we’ve made some big decisions in the Tracy household. Dakota and I made a prayerful decision that I should stay home to raise our baby girl. It was a decision that when it came down to it, I needed Dakota as my husband and leader of our family, to make the final decision. I love teaching, inspiring little minds, and influencing young children is an absolute passion of mine, but when I tried to even picture who would get to care for and see all those little moments of C every day, I just couldn’t. I am so thankful to have a husband who supported me in making this decision and encouraged me to stay home.
As I take on this exciting new role, I’ve started to think about what’s next. Thoughts of what I’d be doing right now if I was teaching in the fall have crept in more than once. Dakota and I have started brainstorming creative ways that I could stay home and make some extra money at the same time. There are so many avenues that I could pursue, but I’m still trying to map it all out in my head of what I want it to look like. One thing Dakota has been helpful to remind me of is that there is no rush. I am notorious for wanting to move on to the next thing and keep busy, but he’s been great to remind me that whether I do something to make a little extra cash or not, both are okay and I shouldn’t jump into anything just to keep me busy and give us a little extra income.
I guess as of lately I’ve been struggling a little bit with purpose aside from being wife and mom, or even if I need to have other “purpose” aside from those roles. “What’s my purpose now Lord?” is something I’ve been praying frequently about. I’ve been reading this book called, “Loving God With All Your Mind,” by Elizabeth George, and oh boy. If you haven’t read this book ladies, it is a MUST! It has been a convicting read that challenges the reader to think differently, so that, you can truly love God with all of your mind. Anyways, it’s truly amazing how God works and how perfect His timing is. I hadn’t read for a while, because of just being busy with new mommy duties, but the last chapter I read over the weekend was titled, “Navigating The Maze of Life.” This chapter hit me like a ton of bricks and gave me so many wonderful reminders that I needed to hear right now, and I want to share with you my takeaways if you too are struggling right now with finding your “purpose”.
1. Putting our faith in Jesus alone gives us purpose.
When we come to know Christ as our Lord and Savior, from that moment on, we have purpose for our life- to serve God. As we move through the maze of life we do so with the purpose of serving God and that my friend is something to find deep comfort and encouragement in.
2. God brings us to new corners of life to change our direction and carry out His purpose.
Romans 8:28 tells us that, “ALL things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” God brings us to corners of life to change our direction and change our path. These are special moments in life that He uses to give us a deeper understanding of His purpose for our life. So when God brings us to a corner or even a dead end, we can know (because of God’s perfect truth in Romans 8:28) that God is working all things together for our good, and we must keep moving and keep trusting Him.
***Important Sidenote***: A key phrase in this verse my friends is in the first part, “to those who love God.” This shows importance that not everyone has access to this goodness that God works out for us…because how can someone who does not love God know the full goodness that the Lord gives us? The good news is that everyone h a s access to this goodness because Jesus died for us on the cross. Period. When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior and ask for forgiveness of our sin we’ve been living in, God is quick to forgive us and welcome us into His loving arms.
3. God fulfills His purpose for us.
Often times I think we tend to overthink why God changes our direction. We wonder “what’s next” ( sound familiar? 🙂 ). But, God doesn’t ask us to understand the twists and turns or dead ends, He asks us to trust Him that He is working out His purpose for our lives as we are living out our purpose in this life to serve Him.
4. God already knows our maze of life, because He created it.
Although we don’t understand the maze of our lives, God does. He knows exactly every corner, twist, turn, peak, valley, light, and darkness that we will come to along the way. Elizabeth George put it simply:
In God’s maze, God’s “no” to one thing is “yes”to another. “No” in one direction is a clear indicator of “yes” in a different direction. “No” to certain pursuits only means “yes” to others. With God as your guide in the maze of life, a “no” is never the end. A negative is never permanent.” –Loving God With All Your Mind
Even when we are unable to see where the maze of life is taking us, we can look back at Romans 8:28 and remind ourselves that God is working all things for our good. Even in the new and uncomfortable. Even in the lowest valleys. Even in the utter darkness…God is using this part of our maze for our own good and for ultimately, His glory.
5. God’s purpose is to make us more Christlike.
If we read Romans 8:29 (the next verse) we see that God’s ultimate purpose for us is to make us more like Christ. Romans 8:29 says, “For those whose he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” This shows us that no matter who or what God places in our path as we navigate our way through the maze, He is using it all for His purpose and to make us more like Jesus, too.
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These reminders have been so encouraging to me as I begin this new journey of staying home…of being wife and mom. It is comforting to know that this corner He has brought our family to is with a greater purpose that involves us becoming more like Jesus and fulfilling God’s perfect purpose of serving Him. I pray that if you are reading this you too would find comfort in knowing these truths and the peace of God would wash over you as you navigate through your maze of life.
-C
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