TRANSFORMED

I recently moved to a new appointment, as did several of my friends.  One of my friends wrote to me as moves were announced and asked me “Do you ever feel like you will hopefully only take the best version of yourself to your new appointment?’ I responded that “I always hope to only take the best version of myself…!”  Her question, even more than my response, has lingered on my heart and in my thoughts. I couldn’t pinpoint why….

Deep inside I knew what I thought might be the reasons. I’d been through a lot. There had been family health struggles, looking for a retirement home and getting beat by cash offers too many times…and now a move across country with less than fourteen months before retirement which would come with yet another move back across the country. A new role. New this, new that. These things weren’t the cause; they were merely distractions that allowed me to let my guard down, causing my relationship with God to fade more than I desired and realized, and probably causing me to spend too much time on myself and my circumstances.

I am sure I was not the best version of myself as I was. I had to ask myself where do I even begin this journey of restoration and transformation? How can I ensure that I maintain this version of myself in the future? 

First, I need to remember who I am.  1 John 3:1 which states: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

I needed to embrace God’s design for me as stated in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Then I need to surrender again to God and spend time with Him in prayer and study because that is where the real transformation begins. Time with Him, knowing Him, becoming more like Him in my everyday ordinary life. Jeremiah 29:13 says “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Here is a powerful scripture from Romans 12:1-2 – The Message Version

^“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2 the message.

I want to be content with who I am, where I am, what I have, and what I do in relationship with My God, My Family, My Church, and people I meet along the way. I want to feel that if things are not perfect that’s ok. That I don’t need to perform or compare myself to others, (that would be a great transformation), and that I am who God created me to be – the best version of myself. 

A Mastercard video I remember ended with these words: “Turning the everyday into days that change everything is priceless.” That’s what I want from my relationships, my work, free time. God turning my ordinary day, my ordinary everyday self and transforming it (me) into the best version of myself – which is me, a child of God, made in His image, embracing and being embraced by God. Priceless.

Here are a few prayerful songs which speak to me of the Priceless change I seek: “Draw Me Close to You” “The Power of Your Love” and “Change My Heart, Oh God.”