Building Blocks — Love Your World

I have been getting a sense that God is building something specific in me. I don’t know what it is yet. I have some ideas but life has so many twists and turns, it is hard to know for sure.

It started with her. The little girl who left. She taught me how to love deeply and when she left, she taught me how to grieve deeply. When I was with her, there was something truly special. I want to call it magic, but I know better. I know that I was simply exactly where God wanted me to be and He blessed that time. Looking back, I love the person I became while loving her. I want to get back to that person.

Once she left, there were many endings and new beginnings. And honestly, I don’t think I am done seeing the new beginnings. I moved out, I started a new job, and I have continued to discover more about myself.

I started a new job. I started working at a group home that provides affordable housing and support to people living with mental illness. Not necessarily where I pictured myself, but God knew that this job would be a part of the healing in my heart. This job reunited me with unabashed joy. The whole job was about building relationships and encouraging them to get out of their comfort zones a little at times. It was about seeing the best in people and then encouraging those parts to grow (one of my favourite things to do anyway).

There were also a lot of challenging moments that consisted of navigating difficult emotions, seeing people make bad choices, and watching as people struggled with things out of their control. There were sad moments and disappointment for sure. But perfect love casts out fear.

This job also taught me so much about how to love people well. Loving people well usually means that you’re not in a hurry, that you often have to just “figure it out”, and creating the space for everyone to flourish (and that does include moments of tough love).

The idea of building was put into my head one day while driving home from work. The thing about building is that in order to build the roof, you first need to put up walls. In order to put up walls, you first need a foundation. Eventually, you get to decorate, move in and live there. In the same way, I don’t know if I’m fully ready to step into parts of my calling until the foundation is set, the walls are built and the roof set in place. But what I have grown to see is that each step in the building process is an intricate part of the final product. It can be easy to want to “just move in already”, but it is wise to take care in each step and to remain faithful in each building block.

I don’t know what the next building block will be. Chances are that when it comes, I probably won’t recognize it as Him at first. Or maybe I am learning to hear His voice better.

Look for where God is building in your life. I firmly believe that He loves to build things in us, not just give us everything all at once. He is gentle and eases us in slowly. He delights in the process, because in the process is where we get to know His character deeply. It is in the process that we learn to know His voice. And it is in the process that the most beautiful parts of us that He created begin to come alive.