We're all in this together

Lately God has been teaching me that I can't do this alone.

I realized not long ago that I've kind of been drifting through life, always with some vague awareness of the sovereign reign of God and the support of others in the body, but rarely pursuing those things with vigor. It's not been the best course of action (or inaction?). God has been showing me a better way.

The first person I definitely can't do this without is God. Just within these past few weeks I've been changing around my schedule to make sure that most mornings I'm up before our son, cracking open my Bible and getting into the day's RMMR reading. It's not that I wasn't doing it before, it's just that it definitely wasn't as consistent, and rarely was it in the morning before things got going. Along with that I've been trying to do my 15 minutes of WBD blog reading then too. Does reading in the morning guarantee that I'll have a good day? Of course not. But it does mean that I'll have at least started out my thoughts with God, and I do know that He is faithful to redirect my focus back to His grace throughout the day.

The second "person" I can't do this without is others. One person is my husband. He married me because he loves me and because he wants to do life with me. So I need to let him into my life, and I'm beginning to understand that I haven't done that very well as of late. Next to God, he knows me best, and is therefore in the best position to help me.

Another "person" is friends. I've become increasingly aware of the need for at least one truly deep friendship within my peers. The kind of friendship where we actually talk to each other about what's going on in our lives, what we're struggling with, where we're seeing grace, and then actually remember that person in prayer, and follow up with where we're encouraged and where we're seeing growth.

A third person is a mentor, affectionately dubbed by Gayline as a member of the OWC. During a conversation in which I said, "I need someone to show me where I need to grow," a friend said, "you need a mentor." Within a week I had asked what I felt was a rather awkward question to one of the older women in the church--"would you mentor me?"--and was greeted with an enthusiastic response. I've never experienced this kind of relationship before, and though it's a bit on the scary side, it's something I'm definitely looking forward to.

I can't say that I've arrived. I can say that I'm learning and I think I'm growing. By the grace of God alone, may this new awareness bring lasting change and further my sanctification.