“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:5-7)
I can't believe we haven't moved yet. I thought by now, I would be in my dream home. I had the plan all mapped out. But, while focusing on my plan, I lost sight of my place. I woke up one day and didn't feel the same newness I had when we first moved here. I love new things. I would buy the same shirt twice to feel the newness of it. So when our current home began to feel like a thing of the past, I became eager to move. But, instead, God told me it was time to renew. It was time to make the space new again.
Sometimes you have to learn how to outgrow your frustrations. When you're in an uncomfortable season, it's tempting to shrink into disappointment, which can turn into ungratefulness. I had to ask myself, how would I steward this if it was the promise? If this was my dream home, how would I treat it? How would I appreciate it? And the conviction was enough to drive me to Hobby Lobby and Target. I grabbed a few items and transformed my space. Because although it is small, it is not insignificant.
This is why it's so important to be transformed by renewing our minds. Because if we're not careful, we will conform to the patterns of this world and begin to attach significance with size or success to status. God wants us to produce and prosper in the process too! We all love Jeremiah 29:11, where we are reminded that God has plans for us. Plans to prosper us. Plans to give us a hope and an expected end. But here's the thing, before you get to 29:11, God is instructing His people to learn how to produce where they are. In Jeremiah 29:5-7, He tells His people not to decrease but to increase in the current land they were in. Even though it was a place they were ready to leave, He instructed them to seek peace and prosperity there. WOW!
Outgrow your process. The only way to outgrow something is to increase where you are. There is power in producing in the process. The process is just as beautiful as the promise because it is the process that gives birth to the promise. When a woman is pregnant, she is often celebrated with a shower of gifts. Most women have maternity shoots to acknowledge this period in their life. However, when you peel back the extravagant gender reveals, luxurious baby showers, and breathtaking photoshoots, you may find a woman tired, stretched out, uncomfortable, and worried about the future. Yet some women to still find a way to celebrate and make the process look beautiful. What if we honored and acknowledged our own journeys in that way? What if we stopped and celebrated the process? You may not be where you want to be, but who knows what it took to get this far?
As we go through November, consider it NEWvember. Think of this time as an opportunity to renew your home, relationships, and, most importantly, your Faith. Don't lose sight of the blessings you have right now. Even if this season is less glamorous than you may have anticipated. If you continue to renew your mind, you'll find something new right where you are. Don't decrease. Don't hide in the feelings of insignificance. Instead, SHOW UP and rise to the occasion, produce right where you are, and renew your space. Keep going until you outgrow the land you're in.
Have you registered for our Winter White TEA Party happening in Atlanta, GA? Our focus for December is Show Up Powerful and we will be discussing the power of taking risks and the power of maintaining your peace. Don't miss it! Register here.