One of the things I like to share about my faith journey is that I try and keep my focus on the long-range game. To state the obvious, the opposite of the long-range game is the short-game. The short-game is the day to day. It's the what's happening in this exact moment and making decisions based on immediate options. This isn't a bad thing, it just isn't where I find the most hope in my heart.
When I am considering whether I should "accidentally" hang up on the person fussing at me on the phone, I think how might this decision impact a face to face encounter that I have with this person a few days, weeks, or months from now?
The long-range plan reminds me that this world is so much larger than what I am experiencing. That every choice I make impacts another choice I will have to make. I sort of believe in the Butterfly Effect at least as it relates to human interaction. When I'm in pain (emotional or physical) I think, this won't last forever. I have never had to endure serious long term illness but if that ever comes, I'll still know that it won't last forever, because I'll die before forever comes and goes. So eventually my pain will end.
In moments of joy, I embrace it. I believe that you should celebrate while there is a reason to celebrate. When my sister-in-law was pregnant a part of me worried about whether or not the baby would make it. Would there be complications? There was no way to know. So while we had reason to celebrate a new life, I celebrated and made a cake upon hearing the news! FYI the baby is here!!! And I got to be a part of his birth.
I love this song by Casting Crowns because it speaks to the fact that God/Jesus/Spirit already knows the trajectory of my life. God knows the long-long-long-range plan of my life. That comforts me. Even without faith, we can all look back and remember things that seemed like a such a big deal at the time that are now insignificant (outfits, boyfriends/girlfriends, school decisions, living arrangements, etc.) And on the flip side you can also think of things that you thought would be no big deal that ended up having a major ripple effect.
Life is unpredictable like that, but in the long-range game you learn to keep your head up and anticipate something great around the corner. There is a Ghanaian symbol, called "Nyame Biribi Wo Soro" that means God if there is something in the sky/heaven worth having, let my hand touch it. I trust that there are good things in this life for me.
The best is yet to come,
~Adwoa
When I am considering whether I should "accidentally" hang up on the person fussing at me on the phone, I think how might this decision impact a face to face encounter that I have with this person a few days, weeks, or months from now?
The long-range plan reminds me that this world is so much larger than what I am experiencing. That every choice I make impacts another choice I will have to make. I sort of believe in the Butterfly Effect at least as it relates to human interaction. When I'm in pain (emotional or physical) I think, this won't last forever. I have never had to endure serious long term illness but if that ever comes, I'll still know that it won't last forever, because I'll die before forever comes and goes. So eventually my pain will end.
In moments of joy, I embrace it. I believe that you should celebrate while there is a reason to celebrate. When my sister-in-law was pregnant a part of me worried about whether or not the baby would make it. Would there be complications? There was no way to know. So while we had reason to celebrate a new life, I celebrated and made a cake upon hearing the news! FYI the baby is here!!! And I got to be a part of his birth.
I love this song by Casting Crowns because it speaks to the fact that God/Jesus/Spirit already knows the trajectory of my life. God knows the long-long-long-range plan of my life. That comforts me. Even without faith, we can all look back and remember things that seemed like a such a big deal at the time that are now insignificant (outfits, boyfriends/girlfriends, school decisions, living arrangements, etc.) And on the flip side you can also think of things that you thought would be no big deal that ended up having a major ripple effect.
Life is unpredictable like that, but in the long-range game you learn to keep your head up and anticipate something great around the corner. There is a Ghanaian symbol, called "Nyame Biribi Wo Soro" that means God if there is something in the sky/heaven worth having, let my hand touch it. I trust that there are good things in this life for me.
The best is yet to come,
~Adwoa
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