What if we thought of it as exactly as it’s supposed to be and not something to be tolerated or endured or fixed. Exactly as much of what He planned as He knit me in the womb as all the days I’ve celebrated.

What if we considered “I know the plans I have for you” meant even this.

“Take us back,” the children of Egypt cried. What we had before was hard, but not as hard as THIS. This desert. This dryness. This hunger. This literal day-by-day dependence on your provision. This circling round and round. This journey short in miles but long in days. We want what we had. What we’ve lost.

What if we thought of it as an invitation to slow. To be OK with the long way. To see the paths we’ve previously blown right by. The ideas overgrown with the weeds of unuse. The passions dusty with discouragement.

What if now is the time for scythes and sickles. To explore, if even just a few unsteady steps. Because now is a time that we have the time to circle back. And try again. Pick another door. Push instead of pull. 

What if we thought of the door. Not as closed, but as opening a new way?

* Post based on a free-writing exercise inspired by the below poem
and the prompt “What if we thought of it as…”