Check-In Time

Around the summer of 2014, I purchased a plaque for my adult daughter (Allena) that I placed (on a prominent wall) in her busy bedroom. (It was an employee purchase when I worked at Meijers.) The letters of this reminder are in pink and mint green with a simple white background. I hoped for a reality check from her unique father in her mind every time she viewed it. 

Though the following advice may bring a chuckle to you, “Put on your big girl panties and deal with it” could also be simply (and seriously) restated as “life is unpredictable make the best of it.” (Men, you have my permission to switch the phrase “big girl panties” for “big boy underwear.”)

God has given the large majority of people in this world the ability to know what lies in their future. Our existence can at times seem like a random mixture of happiness, sorrow, and surprises. Is this perception accurate?

A loving Heavenly Father has already planned out your future (Jeremiah 29:11). All your life experiences are not wasted in the hands of the Almighty because they are turning you into the person He wants (and needs) you to become. Be moldable, (willing) clay in His hands (Jeremiah 18:1-6).

Though the above process is not always pleasant, it is a satisfying feeling to know your life experience has guided another human being down a true path (or kept them from making a huge mistake). After all, what brings more meaning into one’s existence than giving of you to others?

The Apostle Paul’s life (after his conversion on the Damascus road, Acts 9:1-18) was filled with all kinds of horrible persecution (that was worthy of complaint).

Instead, Paul learned a life of contentment (no matter he was emotionally). God has absolutely no problem with you always striving to be your best.

If things don’t work out as you planned (as often happens), can you be okay with your reality as it currently is? Whatever needs to happen, I pray you can make a permanent check-in to an attitude of contentment.