Between the Pines | February Newsletter
on waiting our turn on our foam turtles & being prepared for what comes next
Hello reader,
This morning Wesley had his weekly Super Waterbabies swim class. He’s a natural born swimmer–he’s not even two yet and he has eight seconds of breath control and swims six feet in the water consistently. Today he did a back float almost entirely on his own, all while kicking his feet. But it wasn’t always this way.
While he thrived in his Waterbabies class (for 6 months to 23 month olds), when we moved him up early to the two year old class, the transition was difficult. On the very first day of class, he struggled hard with the new routine, he constantly was flailing in my arms, and he kept attempting to throw himself into the water instead of waiting his turn on the edge of the pool.
Watching him now thriving in today’s class after advocating for him to have a quieter morning class with a familiar teacher, I find myself relating to Wesley on his first week: both within the struggle of acclimating to a new routine and with change in general, but also in the constant temptation to jump into the water without checking with God first to make sure it’s my turn.
This month I found myself fighting with both of those things: the inevitable changes that will be coming for our family soon and trying to jump into something that God didn’t actually have for me. Without going into too many details, I recently was in the running for a great job opportunity. I made it through several rounds and began wondering what life would look like once I snagged the job. But the opportunity ended up falling through, and it left me feeling relieved, but also a little embarrassed at how confident I was about it. I felt relief because I know that God has something better in mind, but I also felt like Wesley coming up out of the water soaking wet when he was supposed to be waiting his turn on his foam turtle on the edge of the pool.
Do you also have this tendency to jump in the pool when you’re supposed to be waiting your turn? Especially in seasons of waiting, it’s so hard to wait on God. I’m constantly reminding myself that God would not make me wait if it wasn’t entirely necessary. While my family finds itself waiting for the right job opportunity for me and for buying a house, I know that this season of waiting has such goodness. It’s making me realize how grateful I am for everything we have now because it soon won’t be this way. I’m a little nervous about changes to our routine, but I know that God is using this season to prepare me for what comes next.
So, friend, I see you sitting on your foam turtle waiting your turn at the edge of the pool, and God does too. He’ll use your waiting for good. And when it’s your turn to jump in, it’ll be so worth the wait.
Update to Substack Posting
While posting on here once a month worked great for me last year with the limitation of the season I was in, I’m feeling the itch to do more posting on here. It would likely look like a few short essays each month written to encourage you on your faith journey or just to share something that God is teaching me. This will be in addition to my monthly newsletter. If that interests you, stick around. It’ll be included with your free subscription!
Tools & Resources For Your Journey
The Hard Good: Showing Up for God to Work in You When You Want to Shut Down by Lisa Whittle is a good read with some helpful reflections and tips on how the hardest parts of life can still be good. I love her heart behind this book and the overarching message.
About Grace by Anthony Doerr is a novel that was so long that it was tough to get through, but it was so beautifully written that I didn’t care. If you want a longer novel that has some great writing and beautiful prose, this is the one for you.
One in a million by Tresta Payne, a short reflection and questions about the goodness of God that I found meaningful.
On The Blog
Walking in the Wilderness is my blog where I write about seasonal and present moment living, as well as looking for God’s goodness and provision in every season. I post every other Friday.
Why does God give us hard seasons? about why we are not free from hardship as Christians and why we experience challenging seasons.
Wintering Seasons: Being exposed before God, a reflection about seasons of winter and being exposed before God.
Coming soon to the blog are the topics of: how God uses our disappointments for good, learning to travel light (a lesson on ridding ourselves of our baggage), seasons of identity shifts, and so much more!
Writing Life Updates
Not much has changed with my book writing progress from last month, as I have been focusing on other aspects of my writing and have faced a few personal challenges and sickness this month. I have only a few edits left on my book proposal, and I’ve made more headway on chapter 4. I feel that I am in a good place with my market research, which has added a layer of confidence for my book idea. I’ll likely start sending out my proposal in early April.
I’ve felt a new surge of ideas for my blog, which has been both fun and inspiring for me as a writer. I finally have found my niche, and it’s certainly helped me when I’m coming up with ideas and inspiration.
If you have any ideas for what you would like to see on my blog, please leave a comment below! And don’t forget to follow me on Facebook and Instagram.
A Question Worth Pondering
Use this question for spiritual reflection and respond in the comments.
How do you sense God forming you in your places of waiting?
Thank you for reading Between the Pines. I hope you found some encouragement in these words to keep you going. May God meet you on your journey between the pines.
Talk to you soon, friend.
Lauren Carrizal