By Chelsea Meyer
Everyone has a special gift that makes them uniquely themselves, it’s the way God created us. Figuring out what makes us unique and embracing that uniqueness can be scary. It takes bravery to be okay with who God created you to be. In order to be brave we have to let go of the old and embrace the new.
Isaiah 43: 18-19 tells us “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
As I’ve grown I’ve realized that I have gifts and I have things that I’m just not good at. Something I’ve considered in my life to be a weakness is leading. Mostly because I shy away from taking charge, I like people to get along and with leading comes making tough decisions. I know I’m the quiet observer, I like to be in the background.
I love helping and getting to know people but taking front and center is something I want to avoid at all costs. Leading MOPS this year has been difficult but oh so sweet. I’ve had to lead, I’ve had to make decisions and I’ve had to be vulnerable in order to really form relationships with the women around me.
But being brave and stepping out of my comfort zone has had big rewards as well. It gave me a support system of friends that helped carry me through my father in law being in the hospital and having a double lung transplant and also a miscarriage.
I have a hard time being okay with who I am because when I am myself I feel like others then have the opportunity to judge and disagree with me. It sends my whole body into a panic that someone may not “like” me. I feel like I’m not enough. But the truth is, I am enough.
When I choose to focus on the things that I am not, I lose my spark for life. Worry and anxiety become overwhelming and my sole focus becomes avoiding conflict or a difficult situation. I need Jesus to remind me that it’s not about what I’ve done or haven’t done, it’s about who I am and whose I am. I’m not created to focus on the things I am not, I am meant to flourish in who I am in Jesus.
I’m not created to focus on the things I am not, I am meant to flourish in who I am in Jesus.
It can be difficult to say “I am enough”, so instead of living in worry and anxiety I’m going to live this year noticing the abundant amount of goodness that is around me that Jesus has given me and focus less on the parts I feel like I’ve failed at. I am going to choose to bloom and flourish right here in this crazy, busy, fun life I’ve been given.
This coming years MOPS theme is about flourishing in Jesus and who you are in Him. I’m excited to embrace the challenge of leading and let it help me grow. I’m going to notice more goodness around me and focus on that and on what Jesus has done in me rather than what I may have not done well enough. I’m going to let go of the comparisons, because to be honest those differences are what makes us unique and is what makes us grow closer to one another, and closer to Him.
So this year in MOPS we are going to learn to have a healthy balance of rest and play and we are going to celebrate who we are created to be in Jesus. We won’t compare we will just simply bloom.
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12
If you are interested in joining MOPS please check out our MOPS page, MOPS Int. page, or register online.
