God led Lot and his family out of Sodom to protect them from the destruction about to occur. No doubt you’ve heard the story many times; so have I. But this time as I read the story, one particular line jumped out at me, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” (Genesis 19:26 NIV) Sound familiar?
Well, I must confess, I have done the same. Seems the last six months of my life, I spent more time looking back than moving forward. I, too, like Lot’s wife, became “a pillar of salt.” I appeared more as a statue than a living, breathing person. Why? Because I allowed my lack of progress to weigh me down instead of giving myself the grace I needed at this phase of my life. You see, 2013 proved to be a year of great losses for me. Many loved ones, my father included, passed from this life to the next. I berated myself for the sadness and sorrow; after all, didn’t I realize I needed to live now after witnessing so many lives cut short? But instead, the more I thought about my lack of progress in my writing and getting my life back on track, the more I stayed stagnant, and the sadder I became. A destructive cycle had begun.
As I saw the new year approaching, I knew it was time to take action. Being stuck was no longer an option. After all, I had dreams, and my family needed me. I took some much-needed time to step back and look at what was and wasn’t working. I needed to ask myself what contributed to my stagnant state. What were my triggers? How was I responding? And how could I avoid this in the future? Along the way, I had to admit some hard things and take responsibility for my choices. I had to make changes. Most importantly, I learned that I needed to give myself the grace God has so generously poured out to me. I looked to each new day as a gift. Yes, I might have been careless with the one I was given yesterday or last week, but I cannot change that now. I can, however, move forward and do better today.
Over the next several weeks, I hope to share with you some of the lessons I learned during this healing process. My hope is that you will also share words of encouragement, stories of hope, and lessons you’ve learned with me and my readers. We are all in this together.
