Fridge Magnets
I have three magnificent magnets on my fridge…they are brilliant…One says “Just wait until you see what is possible when you shine your little light on the world.” The second one reminds me “The world is full of people who will go their whole lives and not actually live one day. She did not intend on being one of them.” And the third piece of brilliance: “Have only one rule: Be your wild, courageous, brilliant self every Single day. No matter what.” I remember buying these magnets at a cool shop in the Atlanta airport, back in the day when I traveled a lot, and spent lots of time in airports.
This week, as I was standing at the Keurig, waiting for my hot chocolate to finish brewing, I noticed the magnets, and it was as if I had never seen them before...but they have spent YEARS on my fridge, and trust me when I tell you that I open the fridge door MANY, MANY times a day. (My tight pants would tell me I open the door too many times a day, but that is a subject for another day).
What struck me as I stood there was how I could be missing such important messages in my life because they were lost in the midst of everything else that is on the fridge door. There isn’t anything on the fridge door that I don’t love…I have curated the door decorations very carefully over the years…but I was struck by the thought that even good things can cause us to lose sight of those things that will really speak truth and life into our lives. At least, that’s how it is for me.
I’ve been learning this lesson in another way recently. For the last five years, I have put my heart and soul and resources and time into a particular thing, and recently that thing was taken away from me…and I was sad, and hurt, and confused. If this was the thing that God had called me to, why was it being taken away from me, and had I gotten it so very wrong, and what would I do now? And what I have come to recognize is that this thing that I was so committed to, and had spent so much time on, had become a “good thing” that was not part of THE thing that I am called to do in this season. It might have been the thing in a previous season, and like the other magnets and pictures on my fridge, I had curated it and chosen it for my life, but maybe it was blocking out the very thing that God is calling me to……the important message I was overlooking, so to speak.
It’s hard to know when the “good thing” is not THE thing, but it’s so vital to figure this out. One of my mentors is Jen Hatmaker, and she is doing a 14 day “free and grateful” challenge leading up to Thanksgiving. One of the challenges this week was to identify three things we are saying “yes” to, and the “necessary nos” that have to take place for the yeses to be possible. This is such an important exercise, and as I was thinking about this current season, and the changes and pivots that have been so necessary to make it through this time, I realized that the loss of my ministry thing…this thing that I thought was so important….is actually a “necessary no”…but I probably never would have said that no on my own. There’s a wonderful promise that I have learned in my recovery journey and that is that when we turn this thing called life over to our higher power, God will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. It’s true, I’ve seen it in others, and I’m experiencing it now for myself.
So, although I’m still sad about the season of my ministry ending, I’m looking forward to what I’m saying yes to these days…I’ve started a new adventure with my sister, and we are creating courses that we know can help people navigate this messy, wonderful life. We’ve been talking about doing this for some time, but I didn’t have the time or energy to commit to it in the way I needed to in order to get it launched. Now I do…and it’s exciting, and a little bit scary, but it feels like a “hell yes” in this season, so we’re going for it! You can check out what we’re doing at https://app.mastermind.com/masterminds/10106.
I’m glad I noticed those magnets the other day, and I’m grateful for their reminders. I hope you will look at your “fridge” and see if there are any gems that you may have placed there some time ago, but have forgotten about, in all the other “good things” that might be going on. In this season where there is so much uncertainty, let’s get crystal clear on what we’re saying “yes” to, and also to those “necessary nos” that we need in order to be our “wild, courageous, brilliant” selves, EVERY SINGLE DAY, NO MATTER WHAT! It will be messy, no doubt…but oh how wonderful, too!