The Land Between: Part Two

Life is messy in the land between, REALLY messy sometimes.  It doesn't look at ALL like what we want or hope for.  BUT, there is hope in the land between.

Let me start by giving you a little background as to why this is on my mind and what it is that has gotten me to this place of feeling hope and not despair...

Last year, while I was on a trip to Arizona visiting a very very dear friend, I was introduced to the book The Land Between by Jeff Manion.  Instead of trying to tell you about the book, I am going to use the description found on the site...

In The Land Between, author Jeff Manion uses the biblical story of the Israelite’s journey through Sinai desert as a metaphor for being in undesired, transitional space. After enduring generations of slavery in Egypt, the descendants of Jacob travel through the desert (the land between) toward their new home in Canaan. They crave the food of their former home in Egypt and despise their present environment. They are unable to go back and incapable of moving forward. The Land Between explores the way in which their reactions can provide insight and guidance on how to respond to God during our own seasons of difficult transition. The book provides fresh biblical insight for people traveling through undesired transitions (e.g. foreclosure, unemployment, parents in declining health, post-graduate uncertainty, business failure, etc.) who are looking for hope, guidance, and encouragement. While it is possible to move through transitions and learn little, they provide our greatest opportunity for spiritual growth. God desires to meet us in our chaos and emotional upheaval, and he intends for us to encounter his goodness and provision during these upsetting seasons.

So, while I live in the land between, I have a choice.  I can choose to become bitter and angry and jaded as to why I have to be in the in between for so long OR I can choose well.  I can choose to embrace this season, however hard and uncomfortable it as, and learn.  I can look around at the scenery in the land between and find things to be thankful for, rather than finding things to be bitter about.

The reality is, this is the land between.  It isn't where I am coming from.  It isn't where I am going.  It simply is.  I can choose to deny the fact that this is the land between and miss the lessons and opportunities for me during this messy season or I can choose well.  I can choose to cling to the hope.

I choose hope.

I won't always live paycheck to paycheck.

I won't always be single.

I won't always live at home with my parents.

Someday I will have a place to call my own and make as a home for my family and myself.

Someday I will work in my dream job, whether I know that it is my dream job now or not.
I will be a mom someday (as much as I fight it and say that I am not sure if I want to be a mom, I totally do.)
I won't always be in weight loss mode but will someday be in maintenance mode.

Whether you are heading into the land between, find yourself there currently (remember the Israelites were in the desert for forty years), or are on the other side of the land between, I pray that you can choose joy and hope.