Hello reader,
I started a new job last week. It feels a bit strange to be entering into this new journey after staying home with Wesley for the last two years. I thought that I was ready to leave full time mothering and homemaking behind, but it’s been an emotional transition. While I’m thrilled to be working as a grant writer for a wonderful private school here in Fort Worth, it’s tough to leave behind a season of my life that was so formative.
I’m leaving a season I felt I had mastered and am entering into one where I’m a novice. I’m excited for this new job, but I struggle with wanting to be instantly good at things, feel “in the know”, and complete my work without asking a million questions. I want to be admired for my quality of work and my efficiency. But none of those things are true right now in this transition. I’m asking a million and one questions daily, and I feel totally out of the loop most of the time. This ultimately comes down to my own feelings and need for control, which I admit makes me an awful novice. I’m so human (which I have to remind myself daily is okay). It’s such a temptation for me to want to forgo the training and orientation and just jump right into it.
But I’m learning in this new transitional season that it’s okay to be a beginner. It’s in this place of being a newbie that we learn more about ourselves and about God because we have to rely on his guidance and strength in our weakness and unknowing. We have to give ourselves permission to be a beginner.
Perhaps you sense God leading you into something totally new and unexpected. Maybe you want to try out a new hobby but are worried that you’ll totally suck at it. Or maybe you want to teach yourself something new and out of the ordinary for you. I say go for it, especially if it’s something you sense God calling you towards. We’re all beginners at some point in our lives—multiple points if we allow ourselves the privilege. I say privilege because I believe it is a privilege to be confident enough in ourselves and in our sovereign God to step out into some unknown. We may fail (which is a sermon for another day), but God will always be holding tightly onto us as we walk into new beginnings.
So as I walk into this new job and season, I’m allowing myself the privilege and humility of being a beginner. I’m learning new things every single day, and it’s an answered prayer.
Words and Resources for Your Journey
A Book: Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren. I’m a little late to the game with this one, but I finally got around to reading it a few weeks ago. I read one chapter each morning as a sort of devotional, and it helped me to hone in on the ordinary parts of my day that I’m tempted to deem as unimportant. It’s a good, short read for anyone wanting to grasp their ordinary or mundane parts of life more wholly with a God-focused heart.
A Newsletter: Writings of a Beholder by Celia Miller is about beholding the work and presence of God in our lives, and each issue has a sense of peace and renewal to it. Celia sends her newsletter out each Friday morning, and it has become a weekly ritual of mine to read her life-giving words. Check it out if you need to be reminded of God’s work in your every day life.
An Essay: Tiny, Tender Things by Lisa Jensen, a short essay about the shifting of seasons.
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.
How God Uses Our Disappointments For Our Good about a recent disappointment of mine and how God has a bigger plan in mind.
The End of a Season about my recent season change and what we can do to embrace the changing tides of life.
Seasons of Identity Shifts and Remembering Who We Are about a recent identity or title change I’ve undergone and remembering where our identity comes from.
Writing Life Updates
My book proposal is officially done, friends. While it’s a relief to have this important part of my book writing journey complete, I continue to go back and forth on when I want to begin querying agents. I originally thought that April would be a good time to begin this process, but with starting a new job and moving into our new house soon(!!!!), I know that April will be filled to the brim. With this in mind, I’ve decided that I’ll likely wait until May to begin the query process, as that gives me time to acclimate to my new job and house and focus on growing my platforms for a while longer.
This month I submitted a guest blog post for a fellow writer, and I’ll share more about that when my post goes live in May. I also submitted an article for a magazine this month and am waiting to hear back about if it has been selected. I’m hoping to do more writing for fellow bloggers and magazines as time allows in the coming months. Thank you for continuing to support me in my writing journey <3
A Question Worth Pondering
Use this question for spiritual reflection and respond in the comments.
What is something new that you sense God beckoning you towards, even if it means you’ll be a beginner?
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
Starting a business related to the topic of my book. That's what I feel God beckoning me toward. I am neither a good beginner nor a risk taker. Perhaps it's time for me to grow. Thanks for your wonderful words here.
So good, friend 💛 praying for you during this transitional time!