Upside Down and Inside Out

I like order.  And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.  God created order out of chaos, right?  I like for things to go in their proper place, space, time, order.  So, I structure my life that way.  I shop at the same places every week, I write at the same times on the same days, I even straighten books at my local Barnes & Noble when I’m not on duty.  (I know, it’s a little obsessive…..)

So, I found it strange last week when, suddenly, everything was most definitely out of order.

Normally, on my days off (when the kids are at preschool), I swing by Barnes & Noble for my morning mocha, go upstairs to “my” overstuffed chair, curl up with my laptop for an hour of writing, and then head to the gym for a swim before it’s time to pick the kids up again.

Not this past Thursday.  After I dropped off the kids I randomly felt like going straight to the gym.  When I hopped in the pool (which was, blissfully, empty), I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to mix things up a bit. 

You see – usually – I warm up with freestyle, work my way into breaststroke, crank out some backstroke, and then warm down with free.  Instead, I warmed up with breast stroke, swam far more back stroke than normal, and finished up strong with several laps of freestyle, including my usual warm down.

The result?  I felt stronger, and went farther, than I ever do.

Conclusion?  Sometimes you have to switch things up to get where you want to be.

My husband and I are moving.  We’re uprooting the whole family and changing cities, schools, jobs, everything.  Along the way I’ve found myself coming across a lot of “should’s”.  When buying a house, one should do this….  When starting a business, one should do that….

The truth?  There are no “should’s” when you follow Jesus, save one: when following the Lord, one should seek Him.

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all things will beadded unto you (my paraphrase).”

Every time I start to get scared – thinking we’re doing things the wrong way and it will never work out…or, worse yet, thinking “what will so-and-so think of me when I tell him/her what we do know versus what we don’t know?  Will he/she think we’re stupid?”…every time I start to go there, the Lord reminds me of that day in the pool.  He reminds me: He’s the One who created all order, and He knows the correct path for this particular journey.

So, we’re a little upside down and inside out right now, and yet, I know we’re exactly where we are supposed to be.

What about you?  Do you find it hard to follow in faith when the path doesn’t seem to make sense?