Not Where I Was

I love writing. I write ideas, I take notes when I go to meetings, and I make summaries of the books I read. All these notes end up in a folder waiting to be passed into a computer so I can organize them. The other day I took my daughter to work with her producers, and usually as they make really cool music, I work. This particular day I decided to pass some notes. I love opening my folder because I never know what am I going to find. I have notes from years ago so it feels like I'm going back in time. But nothing could have prepared me for what I found that day.

Almost seven years ago our lives changed completely. Everything went upside down and everyone was deeply affected, including my daughter who was dealing with so many issues that we decided to take her to a psychologist to guide us on what to do. I took notes of a meeting we had one time and as I held them years later I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I'm a very positive person so I tend to forget bad experiences, so as I read the notes I took years back I was reminded of how bad the situation really was. The words that described my daughter and the complex issues she was dealing with seemed hopeless: Anxiety, hyperactivity, fast nervous system, depression, attention deficit, wrong perception of the world, rejection of herself… the words just kept coming making the situation sound irreversible and permanent. Immediately my mind went back to that day.  I remember the meeting, the pain, and the confusion. I remember my doubts and fears, and as I was there visiting the past I heard my daughter sing the song she was working on. It was such a beautiful contrast: the hopeless past and the redeemed present. The impossible made possible. It was a reminder that God’s Word is true, when He says He will do something He will, no matter how difficult or impossible it may seem. “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.” (Numbers 23:19)

Sometimes we forget how far we have come and how much we have grown. We're not in the same place, we're always changing. I look at my life now, so many years later and I feel there's still so much to do, but I can appreciate and be thankful for how much God has done.

We may not know why bad things happen. In John 9 we read how the disciples were asking Jesus whose fault was it that a man was born blind, “’Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ Said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” (John 9:3) God can turn any situation into a celebration of His grace and power.

The words used to describe my daughter didn’t define her, God had a better plan for her life. And He has an amazing plan for each of us, no matter how difficult it may seem, for God nothing is impossible. He is not surprised or worried about our mess. He is ready to take it and turn it into something amazing that will bring Him glory.

I am amazed at how God works. When I needed it the most, He reminded me in an unusual way what He has done in my past, so I can have a new perspective in my present. Speak life into your situation, whatever you're going through. Know that God is in control and His promises are real. “Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.” (Isaiah 61:7)

Manuelita