It came with such earth-shaking momentum, that my knees shook with uncertainty.
This second half of life, that clearly drew a divide into my life of before and after.
In the before, I was a young wife and mother. Navigating my way through new worlds of responsibility and changing roles. Eager to know things, always learning.
Who I was, and who I didn’t want to be any longer. Off with the old and in with the new. I loved it, truly.
Then the after arrived. Not completely welcome, but here nonetheless. Our world turned upside down with changes, and it was time to shift my perspective to grow along with the new.
How do I stop feeling hopeless?
Where would I find a guide for this unchartered second half? No longer a mother of children at home? No longer the wife of my husband’s youth, but still a woman in love?
Help came in the form of the tattered pages of my Bible.
Remembering where hope is found
A local bookstore was closing its doors, and a Life Application Study Bible was on clearance. 90% off. In my price range!
That young wife bought her first study Bible here, in this town we came back to, almost two decades ago.
The pages were crisp and foreign to me. Full of the lessons I needed to become who I was created to be. The delicate paper is now highlighted, crinkled, and well worn.
Due to the years, the binding is coming apart and tiny scraps of paper mark the lessons I need to come back to.
But this Bible? It was for the young woman who was learning to navigate the first half of life.
A new season of hope
I decided to buy that new Bible, and dedicate it to the lessons of the second half.
The new seasons that will become the marked-up lessons of my future.
Those old lessons will still give me the help required. The hope.
But these new unmarked pages…oh, the potential! To relearn with fresh eyes. A renewed sense of anticipation that trusts in the Lord for my future..
Like Alice In Wonderland, we can remind ourselves, “It’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then”. But unlike Alice, we don’t need a magic mushroom or a rabbit hole.
Because we have a clear guide and amazing gift.
(Would you like to download that Alice in Wonderland graphic above as a free printable? I made a 5×5 PDF that you can print off and use it for a Bible journaling page, perhaps for Philippians 1:6? ♥ Click here…)
Tatter the pages of your Bible with me this year. Let these pages be the comfort we turn to and the map for our days.
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That is a wonderful time to get a new Bible. I changed versions a few years back, and it did the same thing for me. I’ve heard it helps you read the same verses with new eyes.
Hi Christa! I’ll be purchasing a new bible very shortly. I want to journal and highlight so that I can give it my daughter one day as a keepsake! Thank you for sharing at Salt & Light
That is a wonderful time to get a new Bible. I changed versions a few years back, and it did the same thing for me. I’ve heard it helps you read the same verses with new eyes.
Thanks for the printable.
My pleasure Eva! New eyes…what we should perhaps keep trying to always maintain so we don’t get too complacent?
Hi Christa! I’ll be purchasing a new bible very shortly. I want to journal and highlight so that I can give it my daughter one day as a keepsake! Thank you for sharing at Salt & Light