The Chance to Start Anew
- Rosetta Mandisa
- Sep 12, 2015
- 3 min read
I love the picture that comes up with my posts. The picture of a wooden pathway, trees, a beautiful, clear sky with no end insight. I took this picture on a vacation to Captiva Island, Florida two years ago. It was a beautiful day and as I walked the island I came across this path and just snapped a quick picture with my cell phone. Turns out, this is one of my very favorite photos. It makes me think of life and God at the same time. Life is a journey, and even though we may not be able to see around the next twist or turn, it’s our faith in God that helps us to know that there are clear skies ahead.
In May of this year, I started into a very unexpected turn in my life. I lost a brother who was very near and dear to my heart. Less than thirty days later I lost my mom. I traveled to Rochester, NY for my brother and then to San Francisco, CA for my mom. I was away from home for more than thirty days so to say that I was totally spent and burnt out by the time I got back home is an understatement! Although school was out for me, my family still needed me. My kids still needed to be picked up and dropped off, my love still needed to be fed and out the door for work, laundry still needed to be done, bills still needed to be paid and the grass still needed to be cut. There was really no time to simply sit and decompress.
By late August I was so exhausted that I didn’t know whether I was coming or going so I decided to take a few days and simply do nothing. And I mean do nothing! I sat on the couch with the television tuned on Netflix and a book on the coffee table just in case I needed a change. Don’t worry, I made a crock pot of taco soup for the kids and ordered a pizza one night so they could be fed and at least have a meal variety. My love was absolutely great! He kept the kids as busy as possible so that I could just check out for a few days. I remember talking to a really good friend during my life check out days. When he asked me what was wrong I told him that with all that had happened, I just couldn’t seem to get my mojo back. I was simply not myself. I was doing all the right things and taking care of my responsibilities as a parent and life partner but I wasn’t present in my life.
He told me two things that helped A LOT!! One, he said that sometimes we all just need to take a few moments for ourselves because life isn’t going to stop for us and two, don’t forget to pray through it. Simple words but yet they meant so much. A few days after that talk another friend and her husband took me to see the movie War Room and just like that the unexpected turn I had been walking in started to straighten out just a little and I could see clear skies ahead. My mojo isn’t all the way back but it is definitely on the up swing. I am so glad and so grateful to God for always being a shining light in a dark tunnel.
On my friend’s advice to pray through it and from watching War Room, I picked up Fervent, a new book by one of my favorite author’s Priscilla Shirer. Of course, it is the inspiration for my next book study!
Enjoy your weekend and no matter what’s going on in your life today…pray through it.
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