🌸MOMENT Reflection | Start Where You Are

📖 Scripture

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
— Psalm 34:18

🌸 MOMENT Reflection

Start Where You Are

Sometimes life changes before we are ready for it.

Someone we love dies. A relationship changes. A job ends. A child grows up and needs us differently. Our health, responsibilities, family, finances or plans take a turn we did not expect.

And suddenly, here we are.

That is when the words “begin again” can start to feel different.

They sound hopeful. And they can be.

But telling someone to begin again can feel like a lot when they are still trying to understand what just happened.

A woman who has lost her husband may not be thinking about her “next chapter.” She may be wondering how she is supposed to walk into the house without him.

Someone grieving a parent may be discovering that it does not matter how old you are—you can still feel the absence of being someone's child.

A caregiver whose life has revolved around someone else's needs may not even know what she needs anymore.

And sometimes there has been no major tragedy at all. You just know something has changed.

So maybe beginning again does not always start with a plan.

Maybe it starts with telling the truth about where you are.

God, I am tired.

God, I miss them.

God, I thought my life would look different.

God, I do not know what to do next.

God, I am grateful...and I am still hurting.

Those prayers count too.

Psalm 34:18 does not say God is near only after the brokenhearted have recovered. It says He is near to the brokenhearted.

Right there.

In the middle of it.

I think sometimes we put pressure on ourselves to turn difficult experiences into lessons too quickly. We start looking for the testimony before we have even had time to acknowledge the pain.

But God does not need us to rush.

There are seasons when faith looks like moving forward.

And there are seasons when faith looks like getting out of bed, doing what needs to be done, whispering a prayer and trusting God with the rest of the day.

That is still faith.

Maybe you are standing at the beginning of something you did not choose.

You do not have to erase what came before.

You do not have to know where this is going.

And you certainly do not have to pretend that you are ready when you are not.

Start where you are.

Because you are not starting from nothing.

You are starting from here.

And God is here too.

Take a MOMENT

Before you think about what comes next, ask yourself:

Where am I—really—right now?

What has changed?

What am I carrying?

What do I miss?

What am I afraid to say out loud?

And what do I need from God today—not next month, not next year, but today?

A Prayer

Lord,

You know exactly where I am.

You know what has changed, what I am carrying, what I miss and what I still do not understand.

Help me not to rush myself just because the world keeps moving.

Meet me here.

Give me what I need for today, and when it is time to take another step, help me take it with You.

Amen.

MOMENT: You do not have to be ready for a new beginning to begin.
You are not starting from nothing. You are starting from here.

Pause. Pray. Be honest. Begin.

❤️ Every MOMENT Matters.

— Monica Lynne Wilkins
MOMENT Moms™
MOMENTMoms.org

🌸What If You Are Already Living Your Purpose?

Scripture

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
— Ephesians 2:10

THE MOMENT

I have been thinking about purpose lately.

We hear so much about finding our purpose.

What was I created to do?
Am I using my gifts?
Am I making a difference?
Am I doing what God wants me to do with my life?

Those are good questions.

But I wonder if sometimes we make purpose sound like this one big thing hidden somewhere in the future—and if we pray hard enough, plan carefully enough, or finally get our lives together, God will reveal it.

A career.

A ministry.

A business.

A book.

A platform.

Something with a name attached to it.

But what if some of our purpose is much closer than that?

What if we are already living pieces of it?

Maybe purpose was the child you stayed up with last night.

Maybe it was the friend you called because something told you to check on her.

Maybe it was doing your job well when nobody was applauding.

Maybe it was caring for an aging parent when you would rather have been doing something else.

Maybe it was apologizing to your child.

Starting over.

Praying for somebody who will never know you prayed.

Using something you have learned through your own difficult season to make somebody else's road a little easier.

None of those things may ever appear in a biography.

But that does not make them insignificant.

PURPOSE DOES NOT ALWAYS COME WITH A TITLE

I think sometimes we confuse purpose with position.

We think we will finally be walking in our purpose when we get the job, launch the ministry, finish the degree, publish the book, start the organization, or reach some milestone we've been working toward.

And God certainly can use all of those things.

But Scripture says we are God’s workmanship, created for good works He prepared for us to walk in.

I love that Scripture describes it as a walk.

Not arrive.

Not achieve.

Not become famous for.

Walk.

That sounds much more like a life than a destination.

Maybe purpose is something God unfolds as we keep walking with Him.

Some seasons may be very visible.

Others may feel painfully ordinary.

And some seasons may leave us wondering, What in the world am I doing with my life?

But an ordinary season is not necessarily a purposeless one.

MAYBE THE QUESTION CHANGES

Instead of always asking:

“God, what is my purpose?”

Maybe sometimes we ask:

“God, what is my purpose here?”

Here—in this season.

Here—in this home.

Here—in this workplace.

Here—in this relationship.

Here—with these gifts.

Here—with what I have learned.

Here—with the person You have placed in front of me today.

Because I am beginning to believe that purpose is not only about what we accomplish.

It is also about who we become while God is using us.

The patience we develop.

The compassion we gain.

The wisdom we can now share because we've lived through something.

The courage it took to begin again.

The faith we learned when nothing made sense.

Even the detours can become useful in God's hands.

AND PURPOSE CAN CHANGE SHAPE

This matters too.

What God called you to do at 25 may not look exactly like what He is asking of you at 45, 55, or 75.

Motherhood changes.

Careers change.

Relationships change.

Our bodies change.

Our responsibilities change.

Doors close.

Other doors open.

And sometimes the thing that once gave our lives tremendous meaning ends.

That can leave us wondering:

Who am I now?

But perhaps the end of an assignment is not the end of our usefulness.

God is not finished with us simply because a season is finished.

There may still be something to learn.

Something to give.

Someone to encourage.

Someone to teach.

Something to create.

Something to repair.

Something to begin.

Or perhaps, for a while, something to simply be present for.

A MOMENT TO THINK ABOUT

Maybe you don't need to figure out the rest of your life today.

Maybe you don't need a five-year plan for your purpose.

Look at what is already in your hands.

Your experiences.

Your gifts.

Your relationships.

Your story.

Even the parts you would never have chosen.

Then ask:

“Lord, how can You use what I have, where I am, in this season?”

The answer may eventually lead somewhere you never imagined.

But today?

It may simply lead you to the person standing right in front of you.

MOMENT PRAYER

Lord,

Sometimes I spend so much time wondering what I am supposed to do with my life that I miss what You are doing in my life right now.

Help me recognize purpose even when it looks ordinary.

Show me how to use what You have placed in my hands—my gifts, experiences, lessons, relationships, and even the difficult parts of my story.

When one season ends, help me trust You with what comes next.

And when I cannot see the whole plan, give me enough faith to be faithful in the part You have given me today.

Use my life in ways that matter, even when no one else sees them.

Amen.

Your MOMENT

Where might you already be living out your purpose without calling it “purpose”?

THIS WEEK'S MOMENT CHALLENGE

Don't try to figure out your entire calling this week.

Instead, each morning ask:

“God, what have You given me to do today—and who have You given me an opportunity to serve?”

Then pay attention.

The answer may not look impressive.

Do it anyway.

Because perhaps purpose isn't something we're supposed to spend our whole lives chasing.

Maybe it is something we discover while faithfully living the life God has placed in front of us.

Pause. Pray. Notice. Walk.

❤️ Every MOMENT Matters.

— Monica Lynne Wilkins
MOMENT Moms™
MOMENTMoms.org