I’ve been learning and practicing during Lent so far.
Learning when I allow the voice of my Inner Critic to be the one I listen and pay attention to; practicing giving her a job and not having the loudest voice in my head.
Learning to identify where I’ve believed negative narratives that keep me from taking an action step; practicing growing awareness of my choice in the moment.
Do you have practices during Lent? Letting go of what holds you back to Lean In toward Jesus to live wholeheartedly as you have been designed to?
What If…?
- What if instead of living with regret we practice forgiving ourselves and let go of the habit of listening to the negative self-talk?
- What if we notice the voice of our Inner Critic, turn down her volume and give her a job that doesn’t let her dictate how we think or feel?
- What if we choose to live believing we are not a project but are good enough?
- What if we choose to live believing we are loved?
Those are some pondering questions for us, perhaps a springboard for more specific and personal questions for you and your journal.
In the spirit of What If, I reached out to my recent guest, Jessica Richie, to ask permission to read the following Blessing from the new book, The Lives We Actually Have, which she co-authored with Kate Bowler. She graciously said, Of Course!
From The Lives We Actually Have, a blessing during Lent
For Beginnings and Endings, p.182
This life is made up of so many beginnings and so many endings. We start new jobs and leave old ones. We move to new cities and leave our childhood hobbies in our parents’ basement. (Sorry, Mom) We become new people slowly (hopefully kinder and funnier?) Friends and relationships come and go. Dreams blossom and then they wither.
And we find ourselves here once again at the precipice of change. Afraid to let go, and afraid of what will happen if we don’t. Might this be a place of blessing too?
Blessed are we standing in the hallway between closed doors and ones still to come, between the old and the new, between the worn-in and the doesn’t-quite-yet-fit, between who we were and who we might become.
God, make it remotely possible to grow and change, become open to new adventures, and untethered to routine or to the same-old. Because the anxiety rising in my shoulders and filling my throat tells me I am unlikely, unwilling, to step forward.
Blessed are we who take a minute to look over our shoulder at all we learned from what was, the people we became, the people who loved us into becoming. The peace that came with familiarity.
Blessed are we who trust this timing and who open our hearts anew to change, to new friends, to hope. Nervous, maybe heavy-hearted, but brimming with gratitude for a life so beautiful that it hurts to say goodbye.
Blessed are we, turning our eyes ahead toward a new path not yet mapped. God, give us courage to take this next step, and enough for the one after that, too. Remind us that you have gone before, and behind, and around, and are here with us now.
In our leaving, in our arriving, in our changes, expected or shocking, surprise us with who we might become.
___________________
You can find a copy of The Lives We Actually Have by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie by clicking the title.
I would love to hear your reaction to the What If questions and/or to Kate and Jess’ Blessing. Please be so kind and take one or all of these three actions: like the podcast, write a review and share this episode with someone who needs encouragement as they face change.
As always, you can reach out through email lisa@lisalewiscoaching.com or on Instagram @lisa_lewis_coaching
