Pressing the Pause Button

Welcome February! I love to see the daylight lasting a bit longer each day. January is one of my least-favorite months of the year so I can't say that I am sad to see it end. I hope February is a great month for you! As I think about this new year I am very much aware that 2017 is a special year for my husband and me, as both of us turn 60 this year. I am still not quite sure how that happened! There are some advantages to turning 60 (hello, senior discounts!) but being in the process of searching for a job at my age is not one of them. Potential employers seem to ignore, overlook, or dismiss me, regardless of my experience. It doesn't help that looking for a job these days is vastly different than it used to be, because everything is done online, which doesn't give you a chance to make a favorable impression in person. So right now I am spending a lot of time responding to job openings with applications, resumes, and a lot of prayer!

The other day when someone asked me how things were going, I told them I feel as if someone has pressed the "pause" button in my life. You know the pause button on your remote. When we are watching a movie (something rare for us) or a video on our computer and the phone rings or someone comes to the door, we press the "pause" button. All the action stops. The things that have already happened in whatever we are watching are gone, the present is frozen, and what is yet to take place is still ahead and unknown. In this time of my life when I feel like the "pause" button has been pressed, not a whole lot is happening. A lot of things are gone and not yet replaced with new things. I am waiting for God to provide the right job for me. We are still visiting churches (that's a whole other post. I have learned a lot about how it feels to be an outsider visiting a new church!) and so we continue to wait on God's direction regarding a new church to become a part of. Along with that will come friends and ways to serve. But I am learning to cherish this "pause" time - when we seem to be in between everything  - as a growing time. It won't last forever. It is a time to nourish my soul with lots of reading, meditation, prayer, and writing. It's a time to be learning, and also a time of growing in my relationship with my husband. I am thankful for this "growing" time because it probably would not have happened without this "pause."

There are a lot of verses in the Bible about growing. One of them which I have often used as a prayer for others is 2 Peter 3:18: "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Growing in grace is something I continually need - an understanding of the grace of God and extending that grace to others. Growing in the knowledge of our Lord is foundational to growing in other areas, because as we grow in our knowledge of Him we will grow to become more like Him. We tend to become like who we are spending the most time with. So one thing is clear: growth comes from time with the Lord. There aren't any shortcuts. We have to be in the position where we are willing and able to take in what God knows we need in order for us to grow.

Which brings me to this: everyone needs a "pause button" in their life. I understand that there are a lot of women out there who feel like they are on a moving train - moms of young children, wives who are caretakers or helping family members, women who are juggling families and home responsibilities with jobs, ministry wives who are trying to be all things to all people. I get it. I was there. Perhaps you need to press the "pause" button. Ask God to show you in what ways you need to grow. Find ways to make time to nourish your soul by spending time with God, even if it is in 10 minutes snatches. Write out verses on index cards and keep them where you can look at them when you have a minute. Put a Bible app on your phone. Start a new Bible study to challenge yourself. Be intentional about paying attention to where you need to grow and press the pause button to make it happen.

Until next time,
Kathi