1. Minimizing my details does not help. Marginalizing my struggles because they aren't as bad as someone else's doesn't do much towards the goal of adjusting and adapting to MY situatuon. My goal in each and EVERY situation has to be to know Him and make Him known. Shoving my feelings aside because they aren't as serious as other people's struggles is not productive toward that goal.
2. There's a reason why the rearview mirror is so much smaller than the windshield. I do need to glance back. Remembering what God has carried me through in the past.... revisiting mistakes I've made and the lessons they've brought is beneficial. But ultimately I've got to get my eyes forward and figure out where I'm going.... how I'm going to respond to my current troubles.... what God wants me to glean from this valley season.
Our holiday this year was different.... I won't call it bad (there was too much good mixed in for that). I won't call it a mess (there was too much purpose and too many divine moments for that). It wasn't a complete failure, but it wasn't a roaring success either. So as I sit here on the day after, pondering.... I'm feeling called to give value to my struggles without comparing them to what other people walked through the past 2 days. And I'm working to pry my eyes away from the train wrecks and disappointments that were a part of my Christmas and gaze intently through the windshield to find the path to the new year that God wants my feet on.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
