Someone told me recently that everyone lives inside a virtual box. The 'box' is your experiences. If you don't push the sides of your box and challenge yourself by experiencing new things then eventually the box starts to shrink.
I was amazed by how much I could relate to this.
Moving around a lot and so not being able to put down roots fully, having ME and depression, and being a stay-at-home mum, meant my box was closing in on me and with it my confidence. This is despite taking my toddler out almost every day to new places with new people and getting settled in a new city! By the time the end of the summer holidays came around I was getting desperate. I needed to do something for me that was challenging, but that would also give me life.
And so I found myself walking into the local primary school to do some volunteering, testing the boundaries of my box. This is my new chapter, maybe it's not hugely groundbreaking (as I've done this job before - albeit in another city and not for 7 years) but I needed a manageable step. I am currently swinging, almost daily, between anxiety and excitement as to what this new chapter might mean for me. However, I know God has opened a door here for me that I need to walk through.
I read this in 'Barefoot in the Kitchen' by Alie Stibbe: "Even adversity can become comfortable after a while. But God demands that we face up to the tension that exists between willing acceptance of our situation and the necessity of facing new horizons." Too true. My last 'Women on Friday' group before I left Thame was a bible study on doors, a slightly odd topic but it struck a cord with me and I felt God saying he had a 'door of hope' for me to walk through in moving to Gloucester. For this reason I feel confident that God has some exciting things in store for me in this next chapter!
I was amazed by how much I could relate to this.
Moving around a lot and so not being able to put down roots fully, having ME and depression, and being a stay-at-home mum, meant my box was closing in on me and with it my confidence. This is despite taking my toddler out almost every day to new places with new people and getting settled in a new city! By the time the end of the summer holidays came around I was getting desperate. I needed to do something for me that was challenging, but that would also give me life.
And so I found myself walking into the local primary school to do some volunteering, testing the boundaries of my box. This is my new chapter, maybe it's not hugely groundbreaking (as I've done this job before - albeit in another city and not for 7 years) but I needed a manageable step. I am currently swinging, almost daily, between anxiety and excitement as to what this new chapter might mean for me. However, I know God has opened a door here for me that I need to walk through.
I read this in 'Barefoot in the Kitchen' by Alie Stibbe: "Even adversity can become comfortable after a while. But God demands that we face up to the tension that exists between willing acceptance of our situation and the necessity of facing new horizons." Too true. My last 'Women on Friday' group before I left Thame was a bible study on doors, a slightly odd topic but it struck a cord with me and I felt God saying he had a 'door of hope' for me to walk through in moving to Gloucester. For this reason I feel confident that God has some exciting things in store for me in this next chapter!