Loving on Me!

Oh God...I’m having a heart attack and stroke at the same time. Chest tight and face numb, I could barely take a breath. Crap! I’m 44 years old and stress is killing me. Waiting to see the doctor, I closed my eyes and prayed I would be okay.

How did I let my dream job turn my life into such a nightmare? When I get out of here, I need to make some changes, and fast! Isn’t it crazy how life can change in the blink of an eye? One day we’re cruising along just fine, and the next we run smack dab into the middle of a “life-interrupted” moment. An experience so significant it completely transforms our perspective and priorities.

For some of us it’s a traumatic event – such as a divorce, illness, or unexpected job change. For others it’s an encounter with an idea or person who dramatically challenges our thinking, causing us to question the paradigms that have previously shaped our perspectives. Whichever the case may be, life-interrupted moments are game changers. We can’t always articulate what’s different, but we know beyond a shadow of a doubt there has to be more than what we’ve known before.

I was there just a few short years ago, when a professional calamity turned into a personal crisis. In the blink of an eye I went from a life I loved, full of purpose and meaning, to being unemployed, sick from anxiety and exhaustion, and no clue what to do next. I was a hot mess!

Daily I began seeking God’s counsel in the pages of my journal. Over and over I asked where do I go from here? What should I be doing? Isn’t there a way that I can use what I’m good at to be of value to the world without killing myself?

Thankfully God heard my heart felt pleas, but before He revealed what I was next to do, He first reminded me who and whose I am. He whispered in my ear that I was His beloved child, and His treasured possession. He showed me that before I was even born he created a plan for my life, and that it was good. He assured me of this one simple truth:

I am because He is, and because He is, anything is possible. Those words gave me hope, and over time unlocked a series of powerful life lessons, as God reconciled the disparate parts of myself back to Him. The lessons were so simple, and yet so profound in their application. Because embracing them freed me from the rigid interpretation of how life should be, and opened my eyes to a whole new world of what could be.

I stopped trying to stuff myself into the box of what I knew, based on my experience, credibility and expertise. Instead, I ventured beyond my comfort zone, and embraced God’s great gift of life, more abundantly. I learned to live by faith, to move forward in the direction He was leading despite my limitations, and to love the real me, the woman I was created to be – flaws, faults and all.

At times it’s been a wild and whacky adventure, and other times a lot of hard work. But it has all been worth it, as I have seen the impossible and unexplainable manifest in my life time and time again. Throughout my transformation I’ve shared many of my experiences on the Loving on Me blog, and to my delight women from all walks of life have reached out in support. They’ve confided they too struggle with the very same thing, as they search for the more they know life has in store.

That’s why I’m so excited to share with you the lessons God poured into my spirit during my season of stillness. They’re a message of love straight from my heart to yours, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that when you apply them, they will work wonders in your life too. Not because I’m brilliant or an expert, but because I have experienced the power of them at work in my own life, and watched with awe and appreciation as God has done the same in the lives of others.

This book starts at the beginning of my ending, chronicling my journey from life-interrupted to living a life of abundance. I’ll tell you up front - at times it is raw and unfiltered. I’m pretty candid about some of the crap I had to wade through and leave behind to get beyond my comfort zone.

But my goal wasn’t to be impressive. My desire is for us to have an authentic conversation about what it takes to break free from the status quo. See, a lot of us have life-interrupted moments and miss the opportunity for a life-change. We survive them, but we don’t take a moment to process, heal or regroup so that we can thrive.

That’s why I’ve included practical examples from my life, as well as comments other women have shared on the blog. I want you to understand how each experience presents us with an opportunity to consciously choose our path, and how it takes patience to let the process unfold. My hope is that as you read our stories, you can hear God’s voice whispering to you about your own, and be emboldened to courageously pursue a life beyond what you can hope or imagine.