Austin & us: 8 months

I can hardly believe we've lived here for eight months. Last July feels like an eternity ago. The last several months have been good difficult, I'd say. We love Austin. We do. Just this week, I journaled about ways Nicholas and I have grown because we moved here. And people, there's been a lot of growth, and also a proportional amount of growing pains. I say this not to boast in our own growth, but to bring glory to what God is doing.

As I was listing the ways He's worked on our hearts, I had to think long and hard to make a list for myself. But why?

It's not that God hasn't been working, it's that I haven't taken the time to notice how He works.

I noticed my slouch today. I was sitting at a coffee shop and realized my laziness put my back in an uncomfortable position. Literally, my laziness led to self-made discomfort. And yet, without strict intentions of better posture, I so quickly slip back into a slouch. The heart of the issue is just that: my heart (and it's posture). Lately, I've noticed a change in my heart posture. Maybe I'm weary (I don't think so) or maybe I'm plateauing (perhaps) or maybe eight months into this transition, I'm settling in the wrong way.

Things aren't bad for us. We experience trials and frustrations, but as I mentioned in this previous post, we are in a time of blessing. However, my heart needs the reminder in all seasons, here's this encouragement from John Piper:

God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.

I'm going to work on my posture heart-wise (and literally, I need to stop slouching). This might take extra work in a new(ish) place, and I find myself and my heart more prone to slouch when I'm tired from work, or preoccupied with obligations and to-do lists. My hearts needs to grow in awareness. Practically, I'll be journaling more and sharing some about how He is working. If you have a story about God's work in your life, I'd love to hear about it. My eyes can see His work clearer when I can see and hear evidence of it in other believers' growth. I'm praying for this awareness to become a habit for me, so that in the coming months, I won't have to think so hard to see how God is moving.

As a challenge to myself (maybe you need it too?) :

Sit up & look around. There are miraculous things to be seen in the everyday.