The 3-1-1
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The Good, the Bad, and the Unthinkable
The 3-1-1 birthday edition. March 11th… that’s my birthday.
Last year we celebrated at our favorite little Mexican restaurant… Tios. By the time we went to dinner that night, we knew the shutdown was going to start Friday. It was the beginning of the pandemic. I remember thinking… should we even be here out to eat right now? But we also knew life was about to get hard and weird and we took the chance to celebrate.
It was a little eerie. But we had no idea just how much things were going to turn upside down in the coming days. That we wouldn’t know what each new day was going to bring for the next few weeks. Literally. We had no idea that every day for a bit was going to bring an unthinkable new turn in this mess.
And now it's been a year. A full year. And you've been there. You've lived it with me, so I don't need to rehash what went down.
But I DO believe it's important to mark this anniversary with remembrance.
Of the good. Of the bad. Of the unthinkable.
But most of all, God's goodness.
This edition of the Thriveletter is the 3-1-1. My birthday. The anniversary. An Ebenezer stone. I have more to say about that below.
It’s important to mark this anniversary with remembrance. Because the reality is, this year has taken a toll on all of us. On our mental health. Whether it’s stress or anxiety, or the isolation of not being face to face with the people we love.
Let’s take a few moments to take it to God. Reflect. Remember. Release. And renew ourselves in His steadfast faithfulness.
The 3-1-1: Yesterday, today and tomorrow
This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Yesterday. Today. And Tomorrow.
I'm a tree girl. From way back. Growing up, I had my own tree. "My tree" was a volunteer Maple seedling, or so my mom tells me. It sprouted up the year I was born.
And I remember as a young girl comparing my progress each year to the tree. Which of us is taller? How fast is "my tree" growing compared to me? So fun!
And when we moved from Michigan to L.A., we couldn't abandon it, so we transplanted it to the yard of my parents' best friends.
I came back to visit from time to time, wondering at the fact that the massive tree towering over my head was the same age as me, and had once been smaller than me.
And quirky as it may be... As an adult, I missed my tree, long after it was taken out in a storm.
So for my 40th birthday, I planted myself a new birthday tree. A beautiful redbud that blooms spectacularly every spring.
And a few years later, I planted some forsythia as a birthday gift to myself. Another happy childhood memory. They usually bloom brilliant hopeful 💛 yellow in the last days of the dreary winter.
One day they look bare and dead. The next you notice buds beginning to bloom & flower on a drab cloudy day.
Every. Single. Time.
This little birthday tradition has become an Ebenezer stone. A marker that reminds me 'the Lord has helped me thus far.'
They remind me that God is faithful.
That He is the God of hope.
Of JOY.
Of rebirth & renewal.
I'm not sure what I'm going to plant this year as an Ebenezer stone for my birthday.
It feels more significant. Deserving of a bigger "stone". Because March 11th (here in Texas, at least) now also marks the anniversary of the 'beginning' of the pandemic. One full year, yesterday.
I could choose to think it's a blight on my birthday. I could choose to live in denial & pretend they didn't happen on the same day.
But what would that say about my Faith? And my God?
He knew when he formed me in my mother's womb: both these things would happen on March 11th. He knew. And His plans are better than my wildest dreams.
I CHOOSE to rejoice.
Yesterday. Today. And tomorrow.
Raise YOUR Ebeneezers
Where were you a year ago when this started.
What are you/did you have to grieve and let go this year?
What did God do to bring you through?
What moments of celebration did you have amidst the mess?
In Case You Missed It!
Episode #31 of the podcast: A Different Way to Problem Solve is out. What if there's a different way of problem solving that's effective, effortless and delightful? It’s in Episode #31!
And Episode #30 What To Do When Things Feel Out of Control just keeps messing with me. So funny how God will use your own podcast to reveal your innermost thinking.
Goodness gracious, this is GOOD STUFF!
If you haven’t explored MHN’s beautiful books yet… look her up on Amazon. Stunning is an understatement. Beauty & wisdom & depth that takes my breath away.
This is insight from Corpriale is fire. Not to be missed. Click over to her IG post here, and read for yourself. Then fit follow, because you need more of her in your life. :)
Until Next Time…
A Prayer for Spaciousness | by Aundi Kolber
O God, would you give us the spaciousness to unfurl into the people you have created us to be. May we find that we can exhale long and deep into the reality of our Belovedness.
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May we open up in the presence of the One who holds + knows all things. May the Imago Dei inside each and every one of us come alive in light of your goodness.
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May we have the resources + support to continue in our becoming. Would you remind us, that in the midst of our becoming—you love us and walk beside us? Would you remind us that in the darkest shadow and the deepest valley you are there? Would you help us to know that in the glints of light that come in the morning—you too, are there?-Aundi Kolber | full post here