in-between...

We live a lot of our lives in the in-between. These spaces that occur while we’re waiting for the next big event or potential life change to come around. I think in America we are especially programmed for this. We spend the formative years of our childhood living for Christmas Break, Spring Break, and Summer. Everything is routine and schedule. We go from Elementary School to Junior High to High School and then it’s off to college. That all makes sense and our brains know what to do. Then we graduate from college and some of us run into a major in-between. A big dot dot dot. All of the sudden, the choices are endless and we get to “choose our own adventure”. We have to make determinations about the direction for our life. For me personally, I went to work and started grad school, both seemed right and both have had tremendous value. However, I can honestly say the years that have followed went nothing like I had expected. I didn’t realize the in-between would be so vast and long. I thought the next big adventure - the next stage or chapter - was near. It wasn’t. I was totally and completely wrong.

Sometimes in the in-between there is a sense of fullness, of incredible joy and laughter and hope, and sometimes it feels as if we’ve stalled and are seemingly stuck in the murk, just barely trudging forward. The in-between can feel endless, perhaps even hallow. We have no control over when it ends, and yet often cry out and beg to move forward. The beauty is this, we always arrive at exactly the right time. Never a moment early and never too late. The Lord knows exactly where we need to be and will ensure we are there precisely when needed. It’s all part of His great providence. The ways He is at work behind the scenes orchestrating details and ensuring that we are living in the midst of His great story for our lives. Today I am taking hope and joy in the King and knowing that I can rest in the ultimate reality of His character knowing He is love, and grace, and peace, and truth. Today even though I sit in the ache and longing of in-between awaiting whatever comes next, I rest in faith knowing ultimately I want to be where He places me and I want to arrive at just the right time. Regardless of how long I have to wait, in the end, I want His grand story to be the one I'm writing with my life.