Embracing the “Middle” of my Before & Afters!

This is me before.
And this is me after.

I don’t really look much different do I? Sure, I am wearing different clothes and there are different piles of Phil’s clothes on the floor, but I pretty much look the same. I admit, they are really bad photo’s and Gracie would be horrified at my bad selfies but what can I say, I am old. As I look at these two photo’s, I can see a huge difference!

The before photo was taken just before we accepted the position as Senior Leaders at North End Church, and the after photo is me last week. Now admittedly, this is not my true after photo, as my real “after” won’t  happen till I get to Heaven but for now, this is my after!

I cannot tell you how huge the difference is in these photo’s! I am not even the same person standing in front of the mirror. I have been on a real faith journey and I think I have grown more in the last year than I have in the last 5!

As I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, it’s what happens in the secret place that makes all the difference. God has been stretching and growing me beyond what I ever thought possible. He has expanded my capacity and taken me way out of my comfort zone. But I am grateful. So while I may look the same from the outside, there is a big difference on the inside.

Last night we had a Women’s Event at Church, and I led the women through an exercise about writing their own personal mission statements. Now, I have knowen for a while what mine is:

“To empower and equip Women to be all God has called them to be”

This has been at the core of who I am for years now, but to be honest, I have never fully embraced it. Now I don’t know why this is, I guess it’s all in His perfect timing, but I have stopped beating myself up about what I haven’t done in the past, and looking at the future and what I can do in the here and now.

And so last night, a room full of women each wrote their own mission statement, and to be honest, I was left in tears. To see women rise to their potential, to see some of them finally realise that God has a plan and a purpose for their life. To see women connect with who God has made them to be and for them to know they are truly loved.

This is what God has called me to do! This is my middle. This is what the battle has been for. This is what the  sleepless nights and the tears and the tantrums have all been about. All this so I can live in the middle!

As we head into Easter this weekend, I am constantly reminded of what Jesus did so I could live in my middle. The price He paid on that Wooden Cross so I could live in the freedom of who He has called me to be. I am brought to tears everytime I think of what He did….just for me. And the best way I can honour what was done for me, is to live a life that honours Him in everything I do. To live the best “middle” that I can.

So, as you live in your middle this week, please take time to reflect on the price Christ paid for you. The price He paid so you could live in your middle. The sacrifice and the blood that was shed…..all for you.