Thinking Like a Boss Through Fear, Disappointment, and UncertaintySample

Rewriting Your Story

Day Seven

Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6; Matthew 6:10 

Anyone else ever had that moment when you felt like your story was going to end there, right in that moment? Right after I gave birth to my first child, I was flooded by those dialectics of life—experiencing the most joy I had ever felt with this beautiful blessing in my arms, but also the most mourning I had ever experienced. I felt as though I had lost my entire identity. 

You see, up until motherhood, my identity lay in my success. To me, having a thriving business meant I was thriving in life, which was anything but the truth. It wasn’t until my business was completely pulled from under me that I began to see I wasn’t put on this earth only to work and that's not where I needed to find my self-worth. After Annabelle was born, I endured sleepless nights and haze-filled days. I tried desperately to work from my phone as I nursed for hours each day in that big over-sized rocking chair, but I never seemed to get anywhere. I was pushing and trying so hard it felt like the more that I tried, the more I would fail. 

Until that day, July 4th 2017, where I decided to quit my business. I was at such a low point, no longer bringing in much income, and struggling to mother this squirmy little two-and-a-half-month-old baby. I couldn’t do both anymore. I felt like a failure and I had no choice but to choose motherhood. That day I truly felt like my story had ended: that I was never going to have a business, period, end of story. But God knew my story wasn’t going to end there. He stripped me of what was an earthly idol (my business) and brought me to my knees so I could rebuild and rewrite my narrative. I couldn’t see it then, but my success was slowly turning into pride, and we all know how a story of pride will end—not well. God was trying to lovingly teach me something—that life is more than the work that we produce (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV). 

You know that business or relationship or health diagnosis you’re facing today? Well guess what? It’s not over yet. 

Your story isn’t over until you meet your Heavenly Father, which is frankly where it begins. If what feels like an ending today is devastation or disappointment, be confident that your story is not yet over. Maybe that single chapter has closed, but you have the power to rewrite the rest. As I always ask myself in seasons of uncertainty, “What is God teaching me through this? What is He trying to show me? How is he trying to mold me?” 

Be open to change, friend, and remember, your story isn’t over yet.