Change

This month marks our Four Year anniversary as Texas residents.  With it, comes a whole slew of other milestones for us.  Job changes, a new church home, friendship, birthdays, airport runs and countless hours driving back home.  It's been four years filled with joy, challenges, vibrancy and phenomenal amounts of growth. 

As I was reflecting on our transition here, I was struck by what a similar season we're all in right now.  You might not be moving across the country, but you are navigating a brand new world as shelter-in-place orders begin to lift.  The things that were once routine and familiar have changed, almost unrecognizably.   Revisions sweep far and wide, even as we attempt to re-engage with the same places and people that used to be commonplace to us. 

Nicole and Jonah wearing their masks at the grocery store

It's disorienting to try and engage with something that was once familiar but no longer is.  It takes a lot of energy to navigate multiple new things at once,  and it can hard to respect other people's standards of engagement or boundaries for interacting when you're longing for an emotional reprieve.  It takes time for new patterns to feel stable and for unfamiliar boundaries to become part of your normal life. 

As I gear up to re-engage with my community, friends and extend family in brand new ways, I am reminded to shed the things that hinder that engagement.  Fear seems justified, judgement comes quickly and comparison feels like a natural way to process what's happening around us.  But what if we did it differently?  What if we shed fear and sought peace instead?  What if we extended grace and pursued understanding instead of judgement?  What if we rejected comparison and kept our eyes fixed on who God has called us to be?

My aim is that as I re-engage with the things and people that were part of my pre-pandemic life, I will walk in peace, extend grace and keep my eyes fixed firmly on my Creator and calling.  Will you join me?

With love,
Erica