THE FUTURE
I love murder shows. It’s weird, I know, but I do. I mean there is the obvious - they always catch the killer. It gets wrapped up with a nice little bow in a way that life does not. If not in one episode, then usually no more than two.
One of the ones I find myself watching on repeat is Criminal Minds. There is something random I always find so interesting - those quotes at the end - some of them slap. HARD. Here you are sitting on your couch in your sweats and then, bam, that truth hits. And maybe just a little too close to home if you know what I mean.
This one, however, happens in the middle of the episode. Jennifer Jareau’s mom Sandy has a flood at her house which she uses as an excuse to visit her daughter. Just before she is going to leave she asks JJ a question. “You ever project yourself into the future?” JJ doesn’t understand the question so she goes on to say, “imagine what your life is going to look like down the road, but really see it, like it’s a movie and you’re sitting in the theater watching.” To which JJ says no, she hasn’t (lucky girl). Sandy says, “when I was younger I played this movie in my head all the time… except it was all make believe.”
What do we do when the movie doesn’t work out the way we dreamed it would? Do we loose hope?
Do we miss what’s right in front of us because it isn’t the movie we saw for ourselves and our lives? Do we struggle to move forward unsure of what to do with what we do have?
Three things come to mind…
1. Grieve the loss. It has not turned out how you hoped it would. It is ok, even necessary, to let yourself feel the sadness, the disappointment, the heartache, even the anger. But don’t stop there. Don’t just feel it. Bring it to the One who has seen it all. Who saw the dreams before you did. Who knows the past and the future. Who knows what you do not.
He promises that He will never stop loving you. Never leave you. No matter what. The only way forward is to tell Him exactly what’s on your heart. Only He will renew you with His love, but only if you’re honest enough to share it with Him.
2. Change the movie. It is time to dream again. If you are still alive then there is more life yet to come. What do you want it to look like? What do you want to do with it? And more importantly, have you asked God what HE wants you to do with it? Sometimes we find ourselves disappointed with the movie because we were watching the wrong one the whole time.
And sometimes it will work out exactly as you dreamed it would, just not in your timing, but in His. In the meantime, what do you do? Listen we do not end up anywhere by accident. What we do today matters for tomorrow. What habits are you setting up today to get to where you want to be in the future? Often times we look at what we want to accomplish or see happen, but we miss looking at the steps to get there. We are the byproduct of how we spend our days and the habits we live out daily. How can you start to move in the direction you dream of living? You take one step at a time. So what are those steps? I heard someone say once (please do not ask who… I cannot remember where I heard it) that “We overestimate what we can do in a year, but we underestimate what we can do in three years.” Be gentle with yourself. Just one step. That’s all you need to take today. Ask God to reveal the first step and then MOVE.
3. Let go. Let the Director take over. He has the whole script. Sees all the scenes. He has vision when you lack it. He knows the ending and He knows it’s going to be SO good. He will redeem it all.
XOXO, Kylie