How to Change the World When Your Calling Feels Obscure

It’s an overcast evening with light air hanging over the black-eyed susans that blanket the fields behind the house. I’m not thinking about how to change the world, but I’m about to learn a lesson that will forever change my life.

I’ve spent most of the day cleaning the house, dealing with a frustrating computer issue, and searching the basement boxes for size 3T sweatpants.

I’m a bit frazzled by the time the food is on the table and the family is gathered on the deck for dinner.

How to Change the World With a Simple Shift

I feel myself unwinding from the frustrating parts of the day when it happens.

Our sweet little girl winds up with a banana peel in her right fist. I know she’s aiming for the weeds behind me, and I know exactly what’s about to happen before I have time to swallow my bread and speak a word.

She throws the peel as hard as her small arm can throw, and the peel smacks me in the center of my face.

Silent stares watch my face for a reaction.

In a split second, I make a choice that will set the tone for the rest of the evening.

I choose hysterical laughter. We all laugh until our eyes water, and I consider throwing something in return, but I know where it could lead and resist. The moment is priceless, and I’m thankful I chose laughter.

You Change the World When You Do This

When the dishes are washed and the kids are busy making bubbles in the yard, I reflect on the banana peel. Something about the moment felt like I’d just encountered the heart of the Father, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

For years, I’ve claimed Philippians 3:8 as my life verse: More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.

Thinking of the verse, I unlock the truth wrapped in the shriveled banana peel: I come to know Christ more deeply when I let go of my agenda, my rights, and my expectations of how circumstances should unfold. I come to know him more when I can laugh at the ridiculous and let go of what doesn’t really matter.

I recently read Emily P. Freeman’s post on 10 things she learned this summer.

Her words, combined with the banana peel incident, have prompted me to consider what we’ve learned around these parts this summer. Her words remind me that sometimes the best way to close the chapter on one season and step into another is to reflect on the lessons learned.

Does Your Life Feel Too Hidden?

As a whole, much of my summer has been a lesson in the quiet act of learning how to change the world from my own quiet corner, which often happens to feel quite small. Here are the lessons I’ve gleaned, and I pray they might speak into your small spaces as well:

1. If you want to learn how to change the world, begin with laughter.

Proverbs 31 speaks of a woman who can laugh at the days to come. This kind of woman probably doesn’t take herself too seriously.

I suppose this includes banana peels in the face, little boy puddles on the bathroom floor, and the fact that the oldest child is currently changing into her sixth outfit of the morning. May we laugh before we chastise, give thanks before we correct, and realize that these moments are gifts, not the burdens they often seem to be.

2. Change the atmosphere of your world by learning contentment.

We spent quite a few weekends in the hills of northern Pennsylvania this summer. For most of my life, our family’s hunting camp has been a place of solace for us.

Darrell and I have often discussed our longings to move permanently to a cabin in the woods somewhere. It was while reading Shauna Niequist’s book Present over Perfect that I was struck with the truth behind our longings. Shauna writes about similar feelings as her family regularly seeks reprieve at a cottage on a lake:

It’s at the lake that I realize how far I’ve come, or how far I have yet to travel. Both, maybe. It’s at the lake that my priorities reshuffle, aligning more closely with my true nature.

I’ve wondered from time to time if we should move here, permanently, to this small Michigan town. But it seems to me that we’d bring our bustling and hustling here, and pretty soon we’d need a new place to escape in order to recalibrate. Part of the magic of the lake is that it isn’t home – it’s away, and away allows us to see the rhythms and dimensions of our lives more clearly.

Shauna’s words remind me that I make an impact on the world around me when I live fully present in the place where God has planted my feet. The grass might seem greener elsewhere, but the minute the boxes are unpacked, that green grass is bound to shrivel and look just like the rest of the world. #contentment Click To Tweet

3. Your life will be richer when you’re increasingly aware of the small miracles in your midst.

I was struck by this quote in a blog post called “Chasing Smallness” by Shauna Shanks this summer:

These past few years God has been re-ordering my life. Rather than a bigger is better attitude, He has asked me to stop all the chaos, hand him over the crumpled-up mess I’d made, and start again. Smaller this time.

These words remind me that bigger, faster, and more glamorous are not always best.

4. Hard doesn’t mean wrong.

I’m inspired by the words of Tsh Oxenreider. Tsh and her husband embarked on a 9-month journey around the world with their three young children. Before leaving on the trip, she wrote a note to her future self – the self that would be doubting the decision at the beginning of the trip. The note read:

You’re in China, which is hard. But you can do hard things. You won’t be here long. This month is the foundation for the year. Lean into the struggles: give thanks for the easy times. Hard doesn’t mean wrong. You’re on the right path.

Her words remind me that difficult doesn’t always mean wrong. The difficult seasons are often the greatest opportunities to change the world around us.

5. If you want to learn how to change the world, learn to be vulnerable.

My time at the She Speaks conference in July prompted me to question many things about calling, life, and authenticity. Every time the walls came down and I opened up in vulnerability, true connections were made. These were the best moments of the weekend.

This kind of vulnerability might be the bravest and most confident way to live. My confidence doesn’t come from my own gifting. It comes from the One who created me.

6. Inadequacy is the backdrop for a miracle.

I’m currently reading Unashamed by Christine Caine. Christine reminds us that we are unable to measure up in our carnal, human selves. It is the power of Christ in us that is sufficient in our weakness.

7. You are not defined by the outcomes you are able to produce in your life.

I could list twenty more lessons from the summer. For the sake of illustrating this final point, I’m stopping short. I’m stopping short as a reminder that none of us are defined by the outcomes we produce in our lives. Coming up short doesn’t classify a person as lacking, and every failure is an opportunity to grow.

As summer fades to autumn in the subtle shift from light to darkness, warmth to chill, and green to crimson, we will keep growing deeper roots around here. We will keep laughing at the ridiculous and smiling at the future. This is how we step boldly into the next season

A Free Devotional to Help You Change the World One Day at a Time

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