“I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved; and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. I AM the Good Shepherd.” John 10:9-11

It has been a couple of years since my last post. Seminary, work, raising kids has taken all I had to give for quite some time. But praise God I finally finished seminary. And I was fortunate enough to become provisionally ordained in the United Methodist Church a couple of months ago. And I find myself finally able to breathe again after years of stress and deadlines. My mind is opening up, and my soul is renewing. And today, I felt like reconnecting through this channel. I love engaging with folks this way. At one time, there were many that shared thoughts, prayers, and reflections through this venue, that would have otherwise, never have met. I would very much like to see that again.

I am in a stage of transition. And those times can be difficult. They are confusing, and some days I don’t know what to do with myself. But God is always there speaking. So I thought I would share what He is saying to me now. My friend, Shannon Hancock, posted this on her yoga FaceBook page a few days ago. And it was exactly what I needed to hear:

“You have mastered survival mode. Now it’s time to live.”

Wow. That hit me so profoundly because that is what my therapist has been pounding into our conversations for the past few months. You may think that is funny. Me too. But the fact is, I have lived in survival mode for most of my life; always working as hard as I possibly can, always worrying about the next thing; never being truly at peace. Always, always striving toward the next thing…

But now my gracious Savior is speaking something new into my life. He tells me it’s time to stop surviving and start living. I honestly don’t know what that exactly means. But I am really looking forward to spending the rest of my days listening and finding out. He is giving me the most gracious gift of this transition time, and he is speaking peace into my soul.

So I am going to listen deeply, share what I hear, and hope to be an encouragement to my brothers and sisters out there that might be seeking the same.

My Good Shepherd,

All glory and honor and praise to You, my Lord. You lead me beside still waters, You make me lie down in green pastures because I don’t have the sense to do it myself, You restore my soul. Teach me to live and live well. Show me the abundance You create for me. Quiet my mind from everything that pulls me deeper into the world, and help me to learn what it means to truly live instead of just survive.

Amen