One Rhythm That Transports Me From Grumbling Into Grace
One rhythm is all it took. But to get there, I had to experience a revelation.
It was a blue-sky day in April, and my kids had the day off from school. Seeing them run and play outside with neighbors begged me to shut down my laptop and join them.
Yet I found myself grumbling
My heart crumpled under the weight of my work.
“Didn’t I quit full-time work for more than this?” I wondered.
Instead of finding the answer to my doubting question, I realized I was asking the wrong one.
“Why am I not more grateful for this work?”
Like a lightning bug that’s visible at first dusk, I knew that was the real question.
It was true I had left my full-time writing career with an even fuller-time commute so that I could be more present with my children.
It was also true that the same full-time career paved relationships for me that I would not have ever imagined or asked for.
I stared out the window at the bright sun rays to see if I could find the answer to my new question.
But I discovered it was inside me, like a genie robed in jeweled colors waiting for a wish to beckon an escape from his bottle.
I wasn’t grateful for the work because I had forgotten how far I’d come. I had forgotten how many prayers I had prayed, asking for a freelance business. It had escaped my mind the year I drove throughout the city after a full day’s work, interviewing business owners so that I could write freelance advertorials that felt gimmicky and slick–all while I was seven months pregnant. Just to build a freelance writing business on the side.
The forgotten things
That same spring day, I took my question and spent some time on it. What else had I forgotten?
A few extra minutes down Memory Lane led me through all the years I had worked hard, served in capacities I didn’t want to serve, and learned programs that–at the time–I saw no use in learning. (You know the ones, the pesky World Wide Web and social media. What even are those?)
The answer to my question became the boomerang I needed.
How I turned grumbling to gratitude
I would be more grateful when I recognized the opportunities God had given me. I would be more grateful when I understood that all good gifts were from Him. And work was a gift. It’s a gift He gave in the garden when He told Adam to tend it. It is a gift worth opening and savoring, over and over.
From that day forward, the Holy Spirit turned my grief into growth with one simple practice.
When I started to dread a deadline or envy someone who didn’t have to work at all, I would stop and say, “Thank You, Jesus, that I get to do a job I love.”
“Thank you, Jesus, that You have built my business through steady relationships that I didn’t let go of. Thank You, Jesus, for making me loyal by nature and responsible by nurture. My family taught me the value of hard work, and You have done this great thing.”
What propels me from the casualty of griping is this: I look within or around and start naming in prayer what is good.
That’s it!
It started with work, but it has extended to all areas of my life. And it works! Finding a simple rhythm that allows me to focus on God’s goodness instead of my complaints has saved me from so many disappointments.
I haven’t quit jobs just because they were hard.
I have learned to live with less so that I can have a flexible schedule–giving me more time with my kids as they get older.
I can see the spiritual growth journey God has taken me on instead of the long hill I still have to climb.
And the view from here is just as good as it will be at the top–I’m certain of it.
Meet Brooke Turbyfill
Brooke Turbyfill craves specialty coffee in quiet cafes but trades it for grocery-store brand that’s brewed in her chaotic kitchen. She spends her days and nights as a wife, mom, writer and editor. You can find her at BrookeTurbyfill.com or subscribe to her newsletter on crafting better stories at here.
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
Creating Ripples
If you would like to cultivate rhythms in addition to gratitude that will empower you live on mission in your neighborhood, check out Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors. This small book will help you make a big impact in your neighborhood as you learn to let missional living flow from the inside out. Get the 30-day missional living challenge free when you purchase the book.
