Not Forgotten

In The Lego Movie there is a moment when they are trying to describe the main character, Emmet. The police are hunting him and looking for a defining characteristic to hunt him down. They keep looking for something that sets him apart and come up blank.  They finally conclude he is just so normal he doesn't stand out.

I get that.  I've spent most of my life trying to slide under the radar of being noticed.  I've lived the picture of a normal life.  My redemption story isn't big or amazing. Along my path my problems have been potholes where others have gaping craters.

With this normal, seemingly unremarkable life, I easily fell into the thought pattern that my story didn't matter, it was just too normal, too common, too forgettable. I didn't need to tell my story, because, really, there was no story to tell.  No one needed to hear about my normal life.  My story was forgettable, therefore I too, was forgettable.

I attended the first ever Splendid Retreat in October.  During the retreat, we spend some time listening to what God has to say to us.  Loud and clear, God told me "You are not forgotten".  The verse that was prayed over us before the weekend was Zephaniah 3:17 "A mighty one is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." God reminded me, through his Word and through 38 other women who surrounded me that weekend that my story, is, in fact, a story that should be told.  God's work in my life is powerful not because of me or because of what my life has been, but because of God and what He can do in all situations, even the seemingly mundane.

So, I'm living into sharing my story, the story of how God has been at work in my life.  The story of how God can be found in simple, everyday living.  The story of how God sometimes doesn't talk in burning bushes, but instead in the everyday living of the life He has called me to live.

The attendees of The Splendid Retreat 2015