On Saturday, we officially walked into the first day of Fall. As I look back on summer 2012, "Call Me Maybe" and Eric Church's "Springsteen" were the soundtrack of my summer. I love how music can take us back to moments and memories.
What was the highlight of your summer?
Was there a moment you’ll always remember?
My summer highlight was a business trip to Miami.
{To set the scene} Three years ago, I moved to Denver without a job, a car, or a friend. I waited tables, I hoped, and I hustled and now I’m on an expensed business trip to a tropical destination, in a hotel suite the size of my apartment, overlooking the Miami skyline.
In three years, God took me from waiting tables by the airport to a senior position at a software company.
Every morning in Miami was like waking up to a banner written across the sky that said, “I see you. I made you. I have walked with you every step along the road that led you to here. And I know the plans I have for you…” {Jeremiah 29:11, LAL}
It was a vista moment.
“We see where we’ve been; we see where we’re headed. Take a breather. Enjoy the scenery. Savoring what we’ve done, absorbing the landscape, letting the colors of the horizon sink into our imagination. These are connective moments. They keep our lives coherent – with all its glory and hurt, promise and difficulty.”
{Eugene Petersen, Leap Over A Wall}
In the context of my career, I can clearly see God’s faithfulness. Yet, if you asked me back here, nine months ago, nothing was adding up. I woke up everyday and reminded myself that promotion comes from God, not people. It was looking like the six years of corporate life and fifteen hours days wouldn’t make a difference. Luckily, it's God who makes the difference.
I petitioned God for a new career path relentlessly everyday for eight months. Then one day, I checked my e-mail and there was my job offer, right on time.
Most days, life is routine, it doesn’t add up, and we can’t see where the road leads. Seeing where the road leads and knowing how the story ends are not part of God’s promise.
Following Christ is not an if/then situation. It’s a no matter what decision.
Outside my career, life isn’t adding up. It's frustrating, but these are the moments God loves to use to strengthen us and to teach us perseverance. When we think He’s not going to come through, but we show up anyway like He’s sitting right next to us…He loves that.
As followers of Christ, we’re called to set an example with our lives and to be faithful in the little things. We’re called to set an example when everyone is watching and when no one is watching. We’re called to set an example and live like everything matters when no one may know the difference...and when it costs us something.
"Please don't squander one bit of this
marvelous life God has given us. People are watching us as we stay at our
post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when
we're beaten up, working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure
heart, clear head, steady hand....terrifically alive, immersed in tears, yet
always filled with deep joy; having nothing, having it all."
{2 Corinthians 6:1-10, MSG}
I want to set an example with my life. I want to live a story that can’t be explained without acknowledging the Lord’s intervention.
There’s only one way to live out that kind of story. It’s through faithfulness. If we’re doing this life right, it’s not going to make sense and it’s not going to add up. We’re still to show up without deviating because we know who we are and who we want to be, and we’re here to set an example.
Love wins,Lisamarie
