Joyfully Flexible

The evening sunlight sends its glowing streaks across our freshly mowed yard. The smell of earthy green seeps in from the mosquito screens and intermingles with dinner simmering on the stove. From my kitchen window, I gaze out beyond the vine-laced chain-link fence and into our ministry’s prayer garden.

I watch my children play soccer with friends, taking in the coolness of the day drawing to an end. They chase a well-worn ball, weaving in and out of the wild grass that covers the ground with a fierce determination. It’s a little messy and overgrown, but they don’t seem to mind. Their squeals of delight and high fives bring so much joy to my heart and I can’t help but smile. I pause from scrubbing a stack of dishes and step outside to soak up this moment.

The warm rays of the sun glitter through the dancing leaves of a towering tree before me. What used to be a shrub of a tree when we moved to this bushland years ago has now sprouted, firm and tall, and has continued to spread out its ever-reaching canopy. Through the unrelenting winds of each rainy season, it has been able to withstand the heavy downpours. It survives the heat of dry season, refusing to surrender all its growth and green.

The same tree provides a shady covering for homeschool mornings with three littles stretched out across a fraying red woven mat. It’s a gathering place for treasures of nature to be collected and recorded in our journals. A place to find solitude in the middle of the day. With nimble feet climbing its tallest limbs, it makes for a great hiding spot when playing hide and seek. Nestled within its feathery branches, children find a cozy corner to read far-off adventures and a place where mysteries can be solved. It holds them up as they swing on its branches, slide down its trunk, and watch for birds perched up high.

Its branches may move and bend depending on what it needs to adapt to, but it does not give up or break. It is rooted deeply into the nutrient-rich soil.

When we decided to build a home on our once uncultivated ministry site, I had no idea what that would entail. For so many reasons, we were encouraged to make the move into our newly constructed home that was still very unfinished in its making.

No toilets.
No top floor.
No electricity.
No counter tops.
No sinks.
No running water.

When we transitioned into the handmade red-bricked shell of the house, it felt a lot more like camping in the wild bush than setting up a cozy home. This—along with intense Covid restrictions to navigate, recently entering into an arduous adoption process, and saying goodbyes to dear friends in town—left me feeling rather unrooted.

It was a struggle to adapt to a life a little more isolated, a little more chaotic, a little more unknown, and a little more under construction than I would have liked. Yet, as I have moved through one season to the next, there is a phrase that’s continually brought to my mind.

Be joyfully flexible. 

When I was filling out an application form to serve in Uganda years ago, I came across that reminder on the final page. Over fourteen years later, I never would have imagined that those two words would ring in my ears daily. Or how they would challenge me in so many ways.

For me, joyful flexibility looks like making the most of where I am and with what I have been given. Though I’ve been bent in ways I didn’t enjoy, I haven’t been left broken, and I know that ultimately, the Lord is sovereign over all of it.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV) provides a beautiful and encouraging reminder to trust in the Lord: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Trusting in the Lord brings confidence, not stress.
Trusting in the Lord brings provision, not panic.
Trusting in the Lord brings peace, not fear.
Trusting in the Lord brings joy, not anxiety.
Trusting in the Lord brings resiliency, not brokenness.
And His care for us is constant, consistent, and complete.

Like our thriving tree in the backyard, when we grow deeper in Him, we will remain evergreen. As I slowly understand what it means to be joyfully flexible, I know it first comes from having confidence in the Lord, not in myself. It’s not a one-time thing. We are continually being molded and shaped into who the Lord is creating us to be.

However, as I’ve tangibly been flexing those resiliency muscles, I’ve noticed it’s taking less time to find that confidence in the Lord when life gets stormy. Incorporating a rhythm of choosing gratitude, searching for the good, and growing in creativity has kept my focus on the joy found in the Lord, rather than the overwhelm of my circumstance.

Choose to be Grateful

Thank Him in all things and thank Him for all things. When I hold the joys up alongside the hardships, I see the Lord’s hand and provision in my life where I struggled to see it before. As I focus on blessings of the seasons, it helps redirect my heart and mind towards Christ. Finding endless reasons to be thankful and allowing myself to surrender all I have yet to understand stirs up a more positive attitude.

Search for the Good

Be on the lookout for the little glimmers of beauty around you. They are there, hidden even in the most disheartening of times. Sometimes you may have to dig a little, but they are waiting to be discovered. Find a way to laugh at the mishaps, search for humor in the delays, and try to make the best of the situation. It can lighten a heavy load and redirect your gaze off the problem to other blessings in your life.

Grow in Creativity

Get creative when it comes to problems. Adapt to the situation and see if there is anything you can do bring a little change, a little laughter, or a little fun as you navigate the turbulent waves and wind. Find resiliency and growth as you are challenged to move forward with the resources, talents, or skills that you have. Unearth old or discover new ways to create with your hands and create beauty right there in the middle of the chaos.

With every setback and delay, there is always a reason to be thankful, hopeful, and to trust that He is making a way. Like the sturdy tree we’ve watched grow stronger over time, so we grow with more joy deposited in our hearts as we are challenged, shaken, but remain unmoved in trying times. I long to bend freely like the auburn branches that sway in the swirling cadence of the harsh winds. To smile as the thunder rolls and skies downpour, looking for the life and beauty it leaves trailing behind.

To have a hopeful heart that continues to bear good fruit. To stand firm with a joyful posture, continually bent towards Him. To thrive in the steadfast confidence of the Lord. And with rustling leaves, to remain evergreen in both the dry times and the storm.

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* First published on A Life Overseas - https://www.alifeoverseas.com/joyfully-flexible/