Only 10 hours left on this flight to Seoul. I struggled leaving for this trip, as I often (OK, always) do these days.
I’ve traveled for work my entire career, and after I got married, people would often ask how I’d continue doing this work – traveling to write about golf – when I became a mom. I didn’t have an answer then, and honestly, I don’t have one now.
These days, I usually travel for work about once a month (less often than before) and constantly struggle with my schedule.
Because it’s hard, does that mean it’s not right?
A friend of mine recently said that godliness doesn’t often look like societal norms or expectations.
In Romans 12:2, Paul tells us that, as believers, we are not to conform to the world’s standards.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2 NIV.
Am I where God is working? Do I feel him using me to do Kingdom work? Does he often show me in tangible ways that I am right where he wants me?
Yes, yes, and yes.
On the first leg of this trip, I was writing a piece about 34-year-old Kim Kaufman advancing to the final stage of LPGA Qualifying School one year after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Talk about inspiring!
Kim had to withdraw from the final stage of Q-School last year after she underwent a lumpectomy followed by chemotherapy treatments that started in January.
In her final-round transcript, Kim talked about the pressures of Q-School and how she’s learned to handle the hard.
“I think this event can obviously have some huge nerves and huge stress,” she said, “but I’ve learned to start to tell myself the last few years that it’s an opportunity, but it’s not the only opportunity.”
Kim’s perspective on the various paths each of us takes brings a good perspective. She certainly never dreamed of a cancer detour.
I am reminded that my timing is not my neighbor’s timing. My hard is not my neighbor’s hard.
My son likes to take the globe off my desk and ask where I’m going next. Then he asks where he’s going next.
For me, that’s a God wink— balm for my mama soul.
What’s your hard right now? Do you feel God’s presence in the midst of it?
Prayer: Father God, we thank you for carrying our burdens. We thank you for healing our hearts. Please help us to feel your supernatural peace when questions flood our minds. May we find and fulfill our purpose each day.