How to Navigate Changing Seasons

September, and Autumn in general, is this great cultural shift into what feels like a new year. Pace changes after the summer, schedules become more predictable, and there’s lots of work to be done!

For you, it may mark kids going to school, YOU going to school, a new job, a new home, a new project, a new goal. 

For me, this new season is part of my new journey of navigating working for myself for the first time, as I’ve recently left my role in a church to take on a new adventure.

I’m learning new things about myself and my work, and feeling stretched every day. I can easily feel the rise of anxiety within me as I wonder what the future holds, if I can carry what is being asked of me, and how to manage it all in a healthy way for a sustainable life. Maybe you can relate to some of that?

As I’ve been praying about how to navigate all the change, and the ups and downs of this new season, I heard a very clear invitation from the Lord. “Stop looking at the waves. Keep your eyes on me, Joanna”. It brought me immediately to the story of Peter, going out on the waves to walk on water with Jesus.

In Matthew 14 it says:

Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

We can spend a lot of time looking at what’s unsteady. The ups and downs of the waves. The good and the bad. We can ride a rollercoaster of emotions depending on what the day throws our way. But the invitation is to look UP! Jesus is our source, our stability, and our trusted friend in every season. He will not let us drown as we turn our eyes to him.

Dear friends: Heart open, Eyes up!