Rush Your Life

My daughter and I recently had the opportunity to go to Winter Jam, an annual tour of Christian music artists from a wide range of genres. It was a bit nerve-wracking to undertake a drive to downtown, but it ended up being so fun to do something adventurous, different, and grown-up together.

A silhouette from Winter Jam

A line from one of the songs and artists I was unfamiliar with really stood out to me and has been rolling around in my head ever since. It is from the song "Take Your Time" by Joseph O'Brien: "And You're not gonna rush my life".

As a parent of a young teenager, I immediately related to the concept of not wanting to rush my child's life and in turn not wanting my child to rush her life. I want to help her savor and find the good in each moment. I want her to enjoy the process of learning all the new things that are in front of her, from an overhand volleyball serve to new friendship dynamics to a blossoming understanding of who God created her to be and everything in between. I want to celebrate with her the moment when we both realize that I can no longer see the top of her head when we stand next to each other. I want her to look forward to high school, learning to drive, dating, deciding what to do after high school, etc, but I don't want to rush her toward those things. They will come in their own time. When I am at my parenting best, I don't even want her to rush through the hard things (pre-algebra and middle school awkwardness anyone?), but want to walk through them with her and give her whatever time she needs. 

I am officially at the stage of mothering where I can say the thousand sleepless nights between this picture and the one above went by in three blinks of an eye.

It makes sense then that God, the perfect parent who loves each of us more than I love my daughter, wouldn't rush our lives either. Rather, He carefully and intentionally leads us through each moment, giving us the time we need to learn our lessons well and working out His will in His perfect time. If God's "not gonna rush my life" I probably shouldn't either. Rather, I am called to be patient and wait for the Lord.

I need this reminder in my grief. I can get so frustrated at what I perceive as a lack of progress. Sometimes I hit a wall over what feels like an unrelated issue in my everyday life and can't figure out why I can't make something work. Inevitably it turns out that my grief is causing the lack of forward progress. When I acknowledge my grief (and it's accompanying fear) I can often move forward again, but it is so frustrating! You would think that I would get better at acknowledging the grief behind my challenges sooner, but I don't. And God is not going to rush these steps. Somehow, even though I usually can't see it, God is redeeming these missteps and using them for my good and His glory.

I need this reminder as I face changes. My family is moving this summer and most likely two summers after that. I am tempted to go into planning mode now. Our next move comes with some challenges, and it is actually tempting to overlook the challenging move and think/plan/dream/ruminate on the next one. But what I really need to do is live in the present moment and be content with what I currently have. For me this means I spend more time serving in our current homeschool group than I spend researching the next one or worrying about what schooling will look like after that. It means I try not to waste too much time looking for rentals in our upcoming location when it is way too early in our move timeline to find something. It means I am trusting God to provide a house for us just like He has every time we have moved, always in His timing and never without the hiccups that keep us humble and life interesting.

In what area of your life do you need the reminder that God is "not gonna rush my life"? What would it look like to trust His timing and provision?