Orchestrating Flow

God has an amazing way of taking my ordinary life and what would appear to be ordinary interests and using them to mold me and change me. Sometimes, He orchestrates such beautiful, complex events that naturally link together and it truly blows me away. One of those maneuvers has been in play for the past few months. Let me show you what I mean.

It started with an innocent Facebook ad.....man, they are really good at their targeted marketing! On a Sunday, I was browsing my Facebook page as I regularly do and was presented an ad for a journal called the Best Self Journal. Why is the Best Self Journal a great targeted ad for someone like me? Well, let's just say I'm regularly described by my organization and planning attributes and am a self professed self-help, leadership development and learning junkie! Here was something telling me I could become my BEST SELF just by using this simple journal, which, judging by this excellent marketing video, could easily be adopted into my life. At least worth trying for a three month period!

So, I started using the journal to work towards goals around my health, spiritual well being and my personal/professional growth. Using the journal was a natural fit for someone like me and it helped me identify areas of opportunity in my daily life to create more time and space for the things I was working on. During this time, I decided to utilize my commute to listen to podcasts, music or anything that can help me towards these three goal areas. One day I was driving into work and I was listening to a message from church the previous weekend, since I had not been able to attend. In this message, the pastor was talking about how when you are in a place you were meant to be, what you were divinely made to do, you experience what is called "flow". When you are experiencing "flow", you are completely immersed in an activity, so much so that time flies by and you don't easily give up. If these things geek you out like they do me, you can learn more about flow here. I found this topic very interesting and relevant for both my spiritual goals of being used for His glory, utilizing my spiritual gifts, and also for my owner personal/professional development in figuring out if a next step for me might have something to do with the areas that I experience "flow". I tucked that knowledge away and went about my day.

Meanwhile, at my life group, one of our sisters in Christ brings up this book she is reading and the impact it's having on her. She describes what it's about, raising adults and we spend a little time talking about it and I determine that it's definitely something I want to hear more about. Using my Best Self Journal, I carve out time during my commute to listen to How to Raise an Adult on Audible. This book shook my world. SO many things about it speak to the core of my being, and I ensure there will be many topics to delve into, but for now, I want to stick with God's amazing orchestration. I devoured this book. Like, one of those situations where I'm making excuses for places to drive or long walks to take so that I could soak up more of the content. In Chapter 17 of her book, author Julie Lythcott-Haims discusses letting kids chart their own path. One tool she discusses is the concept of paying attention to your moments of "flow".  Hi God, I see you! I know you are talking to me. Yes, I recognize that I am, in fact, experiencing flow with this book! Yes, this is meaningful for discovering my calling both spiritually and professionally.

It took a Facebook ad to get me to buy the Best Self Journal. It took the Best Self Journal to get me to devote time to paying attention to my spiritual and professional goals. It took the places God already put me (life group) to bring this book and all those topics into my life. Who else could orchestrate such a complex, extremely personal set of events that would put me in a new place of understanding. What a beautiful gesture from God to show me how he cares for me. I'm immensely loved and it just blows me away. Thank you, Jesus.