Hitting “Air Pockets”

 

Hitting “Air Pockets”

These past months from May to now has been “air pocket” months. Early yesterday morning, God deposited this blog into my heart. To be honest with you, I was not going to write a blog for the ending of this year, but God said, “no, here is your blog notes. I’m gonna do a download at 6:15am in the morning!” Friends, I fought getting up because I had just gone to bed at 1:30a that morning but I got up to write this and hope it touches your heart as we end this year.

My last blog was published March 2024 and as I opened my blog notes document, I saw the beginnings of a blog that I started to write but never finished.

 

Life can be full of bitterness, anguish, heartache, and at times, all may seem hopeless.

Life for Naomi was not going according to her plan. In fact, she believed that God was working against her. Friends, there will be times in life where you’ll feel just like Naomi did. She experienced a severe famine, relocated to a new place, her husband’s death, and then her two sons’ deaths. Naomi’s life literally went from being “pleasant” to experiencing bitter moments. When she returned to her homeland with her daughter-in-law, Ruth, the whole town was happy to see her. But this is what Naomi said to the other women in Ruth 1:20-21(NLT), “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?” But we know Naomi’s story did not end there, God restored her life again through Boaz. Boaz showed kindness to Ruth and eventually redeemed the family. Boaz married Ruth who then gave birth to King David’s grandfather, Obed. This may not seem to be significant, but it was everything for Naomi. God had restored the pleasantries of life again making it no longer bitter.

 

I googled “what happens when a plane hits an air pocket?” and I saw an article from the BBC with this question, “What is it like to fly a plan during turbulence?” The article said, “turbulence occurs when a plane hits air currents causing it to roll, pitch, or drop suddenly”. The article noted that “it is said to be becoming more common due to climate change.” When this happens, a retired pilot’s advise to other pilots was “pilots have to strap themselves in to a full harness and ‘think of an announcement that won’t upset the passengers too much’”.  And I said to myself, “turbulence”, that’s what I have experienced since May of this year. “Turbulence”.

In talking to others, friends, coworkers, clients, I realized that we all have experienced turbulence this year. Now we know that there are variations of turbulence, some mild with little impact/effect, and some are severe with big impact. While I’ve experienced some minor turbulences this past year, I have also experienced some severe turbulences. While in the plane, the pilot always turns on the seatbelt like on before, during, and after experiencing air pockets. It will ding to alert you to make a safety decision of putting on your seatbelts but most of us when we experience turbulence on a plane, we want to make a safe decision anyways. We can refasten our seatbelts, hold on to the seat, or hold hands with a loved one if we are traveling with them. Well, what happens outside of a plane, like when we are going through our everyday lives? I’ve experienced some major losses these past months and while I was belted, I still was not ready. We can prepare as much as we can for any turbulence, but we cannot control the impact it makes on our lives. I felt those losses in my life more than I thought I would. There are times where I wanted to “quit lifin’”, like “can life just quit lifin’ for a just a minute? Let me gather my thoughts, my emotions, and let me figure out my next step before you throw something else at me?” Hahaha. But we’ve all experienced that feeling at some point in our lives. When we allow God to be our pilot in life, not only will He turn the seatbelt light on, but He will prepare us for what’s to come. Remember, His plans are always “to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).

 I had a conversation with a friend/co-worker and he shared something with me that I will always remember. He said that during his walk, God directed him to pick up a rock and throw it in response to him asking God about changing his thoughts. When he did, the rock broke into pieces. God instructed him to name two rocks, which he carries with him, and he told me he named them “grace” and “mercy”. He said when he gets in a tough spot, the rocks are a tangible reminder of the grace and mercy of God. He said, “your thoughts God not my thoughts”. He tells the story much better than I can, but it touched my heart. His story was a reminder of God’s abounding grace and His overwhelming mercy in our lives. I shared with him what my life dreams are, and he encouraged me to follow them, “take small steps” and he said, “you have that spirit”. Have you ever heard of this line from a song? (it’s so popular), “ain’t nothing gonna break my stride. Nobody gonna slow me down, oh no, I got to keep on moving.” The song leads us to believe that this is about a girl Wilder was in a relationship with who has left him. But when my friend said, “you have that spirit”, I thought, “yes I do, I have that spirit.” A friend, her husband, and I served the local community together recently and I’m reminded of a conversation we had in his car. He was updating me on his father’s health, and he shared with me the many times, his father had beat the odds so to speak. He stated, “my dad has that fighting spirit” and it’s another reminder that having a fighting spirit will help you go far in life. Having a fighting spirit will not break your stride or slow you down because your spirit will push you to keep moving. His wife encourages me every time we see each other and this recent service to the community has re-ignited a passion within me!

Going back to my friend stating, “take small steps” reminded me of a recent visit with some friends of mine from up north. Listening to them share and catching me up to what they have been doing, blessed me more than they can imagine. Their outreach to the community is echoing such an eternal impact that I pray is rewarded to them more than tenfold. They are taking small steps and each step counts. This wonderful couple encouraged me to take the small step of sharing an encouraging message to a pastor after telling them what I felt like doing. I did it and it felt amazing! Thank you for that because I know you read this blog! Haha. I had a recent conversation in my car with a friend of mine and what she said put a lot of things in perspective for me. She shared how she looks at relationships in her life, “God, is this a ministry or is this a friendship?” When God has allowed her path to cross with others, is she there to minister to them or is it a lifelong friendship? This has brought on much reflection on my part (still reflecting). When God allows my path to connect with another, what am I doing in that time to minister to them regardless of if it’s for a short period or for a lifetime? We can minister to our friends too! What we do or say echoes for an eternity. I have lifetime friends (they’re stuck with me, ha!) that minister to me very frequently, daily, weekly, monthly. I had dinner with a dear friend of mine and she shared how her shirt encouraged a receptionist at a medical office! There have been countless others that have ministered to me this year and that have left a lasting impact.

Over the past months, the turbulence I’ve felt, have led me to be more intentional of finding God’s goodness in my life. When I made that decision, I saw it everywhere in my life despite the turbulences I’ve experienced/witnessed. Sometimes, circumstances can lead us to doubt God’s goodness in our lives. But just because we don’t always feel His tangible goodness, it doesn’t mean that His goodness is not present in our lives. No matter what I’m going through, I intentionally take time to reflect on God’s goodness in my life. Yes, “surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23: 6 NIV).

As you close out this year, take time to reflect on how far you’ve come. Remember that reflecting on God’s grace and mercy will help you in your tough moments. Remember that your fighting spirit will push you to keep moving and overcome any adversity. And remember that the ministry you give to others makes an impact on their lives and yours.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Warm Wishes,

Carline