By Miriam Rossow
A month ago everything was new. I was walking into the high school my daughter wanted to attend to meet the swim coach and leave my daughter for her first practice. This was not only her first high school practice but really her first practice for a sport. Now she did do a small stint on a club and you can read about the start of that experience here.
This was different. We were committing to a team that practiced twice a day. I was buying an $80 swimsuit and fancy new goggles and cap, not ones from Meijer. She had not even been to a meet before! Honestly, I was not positive what this would do to her or me or our family.
Honestly, I was not positive what this would do to her or me or our family.
At about the same time I began working. I had accepted a position at my children’s school to teach half-day Kindergarten. This was going to be the perfect step back into working outside of the home.
August 1 and my room had a fresh coat of paint, new carpet, and all the furniture, manipulatives, books, computers, and other random things in one corner of the room. I had no idea where anything was or what was even in the room.
So the work began to pull each piece out slowly and look at it, dust it off, decide if I wanted it and where it might live in the room. Transformation was quick the first couple of days! Then it slowed and my mind began to fill.
August 15 was my real start date and now I had a full-time job! There were meetings, bulletin boards, schedules, meetings, procedures, meetings, computers, meetings, and get-to-know-you gatherings.
I was working full days, my oldest was swimming 4 ½ hours a day, and the other three were being passed between grandparents. Honestly, I was not positive what this would do to me or my family.
Honestly, I was not positive what this would do to me or my family.
There has been new at every step. Learning the swim team jargon, schedule, and responsibilities; registering for high school classes, some of which had work that now needs to be figured out and done. New job, new technology, new schools, new schedules, new friends….. Everything was new.
Being new can be challenging and stressful. I am overwhelmed writing about this experience. The thing that may have been the hardest during all of this was that I felt so scattered. I was not with the people that God has put in my life to support me. (I was with different people who also could do this, but the relationships were also new!)
My family was busy and scattered. I was not at St. Luke for what felt like forever! I was not talking to my people, those people put in your life to support you and point you back to Jesus. I felt tired, lost, and separated.
I felt tired, lost, and separated.
Then I had a refreshing night with some of those friends. I had a beautiful worship experience where I was reminded that no matter what it looks like to me, God is in control.
God who is God, the Creator, the one who made me and knows me. He is in control and I will be swept up in His power.
My prayer is that the Lord, YAHWEH, opens my eyes to see the army He has, to see the fiery chariot, the gospel, to see Jesus!
God who is God, the Creator, the one who made me and knows me. He is in control and I will be swept up in His power.
The new is dying down now. The new does not feel as hard. I know, though, that more new is just around the corner. And so I hold onto the promise that someone bigger than me has everything under control.
I will hold onto the promise that the someone bigger also loves me more than I can imagine. That someone is Jesus: YAHWEH saves.
