Gracefully Navigating Anxiety
I didn’t
see
it coming…
The story of how you see me today isn’t your average, “I’ve always known I’d do this! This is my dream and I am LIVING IT!”
No.
In fact, I had little-to-no confidence or expectation I’d do anything radical. I had hope, but didn’t think something actually might happen. Here’s what I mean…
Did you ever take an assessment to determine which career would suit you best? Did your result match up to what you actually ended up doing?
Mine didn’t.
“Most likely to work in retail.”
(I think the fancy way of saying this now is, “Most likely to market your product well!” Glass half full, amiright?)
Fast-forward quite a few years, and I acquired my undergrad degree in Psychology while attending a ministry school full time. Thanks to my love of people and a few traumatic events thrown into my life, I found myself pursuing other pastures. I found my life-mate, birthed a couple of kids, and (plot twist) started and grew a successful PHOTOGRAPHY business.
NOW TO THE GOOD PART- -
Enter the 2020 pandemic, and our lives came to a halt (as did the rest of the world).
At the time, I was at the height of my anxiety, going through medical testing to rule out underlying issues that “threatened my life”. There were none, and the root cause of my presumed illness was, in fact, anxiety.
By the grace of God, the quarantine became a time of rest and reflection for me. I was forced to stop the constant “on-the-go” lifestyle, and just be at home. We were forced to stay home, and it became a healing ground for my mind.
As I made time (because, all we had was time) to be with the Lord more intentionally daily, He began to transform me. Just as the pandemic forced people to work harder to maintain a healthy state-of-mind, I too had to work. Not only was my body finding rest physically, I was finding rest mentally in His presence. The stressors of the former schedule were no longer present or influential, and I had no other option than to just be.
As the quarantine restrictions started to lift in our state, and life could resume to the “new normal” we heard about, I felt something stirring in me.
——
I had no direction of what was next, but just to lay everything down and wait. I had to keep my focus on Him, and I saw my word of the year (Focus) truly at work.
Ya’ll, that is some scary ground to walk.
But I did it. I released my statement to the masses that I was retiring my full-time photography business without knowing what was next.
The grace that met me the following day was the word of what was coming next. God revealed and confirmed my next step was to write a book. This book.
Not just for me.
But for you, my friend.
There are so many of you that have only known pain, no matter the length of time. Your hurt is not overlooked. Your anxieties are not ignored. I am walking right there with you, as your ally.
I want to bring value to your life. Be an encouragement. Be your ally in the fight.
And more importantly, reassure you time and time again that YOU are loved. Seen. Redeemed. Justified. Wanted.
This is the goodness of God- seeing His glory in any and every situation we cannot appoint/force/direct. Earth cannot shut the doors that Heaven opens.
And more than likely, we never see it coming.
