Have you ever tried something brand new that you’ve never done before? I know I would never try parachuting out of an airplane but I always thought learning how to be barista would be fun. The church I have been attending has a coffee bar. They serve drip coffee but also lattes, mochas, etc. Yesterday a friend and I were trained how to run the coffee extraction machine, add syrups and froth milk. It was so much fun! Although, I came home with a caffeine buzz! This morning at church we volunteered to serve in the coffee bar. We didn’t do too badly!
After the death of a spouse the support groups have told us that you have to discover your new identity. After Neal died I was no longer “Neal’s wife,” didn’t work at Bridgman Family Dental Care but was single in a couple’s world, a widow. For me, to discover my new identity meant going to a new church, making new friends or connecting with old friends, finding new hobbies, or rediscovering old ones. It meant what did i want to eat? How did I want to spend my time? Becoming a barista at a new church is part of my journey to discover a new identity.
This past week I started in a Beth Moore bible study called “Children of the Day: 1 & 2 Thessalonians with a group of women I didn’t know. In the DVD Beth was talking about how Paul and Barnabas did ministry together but after a sharp disagreement they split ways. Paul then took on Silas and Timothy to travel with him. It may have been that Paul and Barnabas were too comfortable together that they didn’t want to seperate into two groups. But through this disagreement two groups were formed which ended up to further advance the gospel. God used a tough situation for good.
Remix: a new or different version of something that is made by chaning or adding to the original.
Death of a spouse definetely launches you into a remix. If you are in the midst of a difficult situation you are right where you should be for God to use. He will put us into a remix if we let him. If we aren’t open to a remix we may miss out on what God wants us to do and become bitter. We may miss out on meeting new people who will become our dearest friend. We may miss out on trying new adventures that will become our favorite hobbie. We may miss out on blessings that we receive during the remix. Sometimes renewal comes through the remix.
Maybe its time for something new. Maybe its time to stop repeating the same old thing. We aren’t here to stay the same!
I pray that you will trust that God knows what he’s doing and be open to his remix in you.
On the journey,
Trish
“Instead of becoming discouraged, depressed or angry when people disappoint us, God wants us to lift up our eyes, look around, and trust him to lead us into an even better situation. He wants us to look around and count our blessings instead of focusing on what we do not have. He wants us to fix our eyes on him, not on the work of the enemy, because he has plans to bless us.” Joyce Meyer, Everyday Life Bible, page 23.
