Jaci Velasquez's When God Rescripts Your LifeSample

That thing you were good at and that role you were comfortable in. That title you loved having in front of your name and the expectation you had that that role would continue forward, a definition of who you were. But then, things shift.

Sometimes it’s because a spouse decides to walk out the door. Or the boss shows you the door. Or your aging parent needs you and you set aside that job you love to be there for them.

Or sometimes you’ve been trying to claim a role. You’ve put in the work. You’ve dreamed big. You’ve made the right connections, showed up early, stayed late. But that role isn’t rolling out for you. And now you’re having to face that perhaps that role wasn’t meant for you. So now what?

Our roles are not static, even though we often think of them that way. We go from our parents’ homes to our first apartments. We go from that intern position at the job to manager. We go from being single to being someone’s girlfriend to being someone’s fiancée to being someone’s wife. We go from being someone’s favorite aunt to being someone’s mama. When these gradual or expected roles shift in expected ways, we don’t really feel the sting in their transition.

But when our roles get reversed, when the script gets flipped, when things are required of us that we didn’t see coming and feel far outside of what we thought was our job description, it can feel unfair.

It’s wanting things to be fair, for things to be predictable, that trips me up when it comes to this whole lane of being open to the role God has for me. . . . But I’m learning. I’m learning to smile with the roll of the roles.