I was busting my rear mowing the yard and thought, “dang it! I should’ve taken a before picture!” Here’s the half way picture – pretty crazy right?
Often times, I work tirelessly on things and if anyone was to look in from the outside they wouldn’t even notice. They might even think said ‘thing’ had been neglected and no one paid any care to it in a long time. They might even give me critical glances or comments for just how disrepaired and unsightly ‘thing’ is.
If they only knew. If they only saw the before picture. If only they saw me grimy and sweaty and exhausted from pouring in the most TLC I can muster into this ‘thing’. But they don’t always and they won’t. That’s okay. We can’t base our progress off of other people’s standards. Our growth should be something that excites and motivates us personally.
I’m not who I want to be but thank God I’m not who I used to be. It’s okay if you don’t see the before picture or understand exactly how far I’ve come. It’s okay if you don’t see the internal work God is doing in me or the external work I did cleaning under the cabinets. I know and God knows.
I need to take a look at before pictures for myself. You might too. I need to know how far I’ve come and inscribe it in my memories cause let’s face it….life is hard. Change is hard. Growing is hard.
Looking back isn’t always easy. Sometimes we look back and “remember from where we have fallen” (Rev 2:5). If that’s your season, do it anyway, despite the hard. Jesus will help.
Other times we look back to grief, insecurities, trauma or any number of seemingly negative emotions. While it can be painful or uncomfortable, reviewing those before pictures also begets the opportunity to put a stake in the ground, measure the distance we’ve traveled and do a victory dance.
It might be a dance done all by ourselves… so pull out those moves and dance like noone is watching.
Anna Marcella's 