What a difference a month makes. Going into the final Sunday of October we entered November with much uncertainty. Nevertheless we were thankful.
Entering December (the Advent season) we are hopeful. For 10 years we served, loved, and made many sacrifices (often putting the congregations we served over our own needs/desires.)
A book I picked up years ago, initially I purchased it it to pass along should it apply to someone else. The book is titled, Surving a Layoff: A week by week guide to putting your life back together.” In it I had highlighted a thought, again expecting whoever would read might be encouraged. At the time I didn’t know the reader would be me.
The author wrote, “Day 1 after losing your job is the day you truly start working through the grieving process. Take time to grieve, just as you would over the loss of a family member. Losing a job can be just as devastatingly, if not more personally devastating, as losing a loved one. Many of us think of ourselves in terms of our jobs and all of a sudden we feel as if we have lost our identity.”
This month as we’ve entered the grieving process and much uncertainty has been a productive time. In this time God has put us around people who have cared for us, comforted us, provided for us, and has built into us. God has opened a door of employment and it appears that he is beginning to work out a housing plan.
One of the things I am learning is that my identity is not in what I’ve done over the past 10 years but in who I am in Christ. Walking through Ephesians 1 has been most helpful over the past few weeks.
So, as the title suggests in the book Give Yourself Some Time, we are doing just that. Time to gather our bearings, time to heal, time to grow.
Life Of Pursuit 