I was supposed to have a meeting this morning. But then, one person called and said he’d be late because his car wouldn’t start this morning. Another one said her son had an emergency doctor’s appointment after a fall resulting in a split chin and a couple of cracked teeth. And then on the homefront for me, our air conditioner went out and the service guy came to fix it right at the time of the meeting. 75% of us supposed to be in that meeting got all kinds of wonky beginnings to this week.
Man, adulting can be hard.
We celebrated my birthday this weekend. I turned 37, and glory hallalujah, does this older skin feel good!! Of course, it all sags and bags and wrinkles more than it did 15 years ago, because… AGE. But, despite looking like I opened up a zipper in said loose skin on my thighs to dump in a container of cottage cheese, the birthday suit I’m wearing these days sure does fit better than ever before. The older I get, the more I like me. The older I get, the more life’s curveballs don’t throw me for the same sort of dramatic loop they did years ago. Adulting can be rough, but I’m growing into it I think.
I was visiting my publisher last week in Colorado to work on stuff for the book, and was super honored to share in a chapel service on Monday morning in their office. I thought and prayed about what to share and finally landed on the topic of Tension.
Because it’s something we’re all learning to live with. Tension is a given. And for sure, the more adulting you do, the more tension you wrestle. It’s a thing.
We are all learning to live with tension of one minute playing and being silly with your kids, and the next rushing to get stitches from a freak fall that dramatically alters the moment. One minute you’re celebrating a huge win, and the next picking up pieces from an entirely different loss. One second you’re getting a refund check for something-or-another, and the next your AC goes out and costs almost the same exact amount. Maybe you just spent Saturday night celebrating the wedding of a dear friend, but then off to the side cried with another presently going through a messy divorce. Tension is everywhere isn’t it? Gah…adulting.
My friend Sarah Mae says that she is learning to “fit perfect into fallen skin”…and I guess maybe that’s what I’m doing too. Learning how to hold the tensions of this fallen world, but view them through a lens of my good God. To hold the things that break me and give me life in the same cupped hands, at the same time, and allow them to each carry their own weight.
The first step for me it seems is just acknowledging that this tension is a given. It doesn’t go away and it shifts like the seasons. And, to keep from freezing in winter and baking in summer, I have to learn to shift my perspective as well. I pass the tensions through the filter of Christ and allow that center to keep from throwing me off kilter. Because life can sure feel like a pendulum can’t it? And adulting…carrying the tensions…wrestling and celebrating simultaneously isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s hard work we are doing…parenting and friending…marriage-ing and adulting. Some days feel like a rubberband stretched to near snapping don’t they? And so those days…those moments…those seasons, I just remember that though tension is everpresent, so is my God.
What tensions are you holding today? And when you feel like life is a swinging pendulum or a rapidly shifting season, what do you to do maintain your stability and keep yourself rooted? What is one thing that God has taught you about managing the tensions of life? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Also, I’m digging into this topic way more in depth in my new book Curious Faith which will be out in March! Can’t wait to share it with you!
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