Lessons For Living Life Wide OpenSample

I’m so grateful for the words I find in Zechariah 4:10: “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin” (NLT).

The beginning of a story is just as important as the middle and the end. Our children can be our greatest teachers if we let them. Our struggles can light a path we never would have looked for, and we can find truth, freedom, and joy in the most unexpected places.

Where is your story today? Are you at the start of something, brimming over with excitement and anticipation? Are you stuck in the middle and fumbling around for the light switch? Are you facing a trial you never saw coming and find yourself paralyzed with fear and denial? Are you exhausted by life? Afraid? Uncertain? Are you looking for hope and joy and love and wondering where it all went?

Start back at the beginning. Throw out your old, preconceived ideas about what a successful life should look like, and restart with a new perspective. Grieve your losses and look for a new path as you accept the things you never expected or wanted. Take a break—go for a hike, take a swim, sit out on the porch and listen to the rhythm of the crickets singing. Call a sitter and take an afternoon nap. Breathe deeply. Cry when you need to.

Open your doors and your heart. Make a new friend, or two, or ten. Love bigger than you thought you could, and find that expanding your borders increases your capacity to love and receive love. Rest in the knowledge that you are already enough.

Today. Right now. You are valuable, worthy, and important. Show up for life even when you don’t feel ready. There will be days of small joys and big joys and everything in between. It all matters, and it’s all important.

And, most of all, live moment to moment with your heart wide open, knowing that whatever comes . . . it’s okay about it.