Restart

Restart

for everything there is a season…

Are you feeling in need of a restart?

I have reflected on this very notion quite a bit as of late. For me, it’s a feeling of unsettled and stalled - looking for a groove so to speak. Where the season of fall found me in a contented state of cruising along, January finds me yearning for a restart.

Whether it was the challenges of a “different” holiday season, an untimely broken bone (are they ever timely??) or a true quarantine after a close contact exposure (a phrase I still can’t get used to - uggh), it really doesn’t matter. Somehow though, I came to a stop and simply stalled out. I’ve found myself without rhythm and realizing a desperate need to restart.

I honestly admit though that “stalled” sometimes is another way of escaping and feeling safe. For to follow hopes and dreams you may carry, requires moving...moving forward and away from things like fears and “what ifs.”

Yet, rather than place those hopes and dreams on a so called shelf, where they and I both feel comfortable and safe, I have a tougher choice to make. Take them off the shelf. Restart. Move forward. As I heard Emily P. Freeman so aptly say - “Starting again does not have to be starting over.” Indeed, it’s not a start from scratch. It’s simply a restart. It’s permission to give myself grace, not a reprimand.

And what has encouraged me the most as of late? As I journaled today, it was the realization that while I placed those items...a few hopes and dreams for the coming year...on the shelf, they were not alone. God, in His loving arms, was and continues to tenderly hold all those safe for me. Even if I have found myself stalled. He knows the longings of my heart.

If you need a restart - whatever it may be - join me in asking Him to help take the keepsakes of your heart down off the shelf and guide you to move forward carrying your treasures. We know we won’t be alone for the journey.