When You’re Living in the ‘Meantime’

Posted: 4 years ago

When You’re Living in the ‘Meantime’

I can’t help but feel that I’m living in the meantime. I know I can’t be the only one.

I have a big goal, one I have been working on for over a year. Any time I have to work on something that doesn’t have to do with that goal it feels like a distraction. It feels like it’s just something I just have to do in the meantime. I know I can’t be the only one.

Then, I received this message in my inbox, “Your posts give me immeasurable strength.”

Maybe the message was unique to me, but I know I’m not the only one. Because the work of right now, the life of right now, is important and impactful even when we don’t recognize it ourselves.

In this self-improvement culture, the message screams to put everything aside, don’t stop chasing your dream until you have crossed the finish line. I’ve been tempted to view this path I am on like a racecourse, but I don’t think that’s how life is meant to be lived. Instead, I think it’s supposed to be more like a road trip, one with a map, a plan, but room for detours.

As we wait for the promotion, as we wait to move cities, as we wait for the toddler phase to end, as we wait for the second phase of treatment to commence, as we wait for the other person apologize, as we wait for our broken hearts to heal. . . there is life to be lived in the meantime.

Because our lives are not just our own; we belong to one another. We miss out on so much if we just get by in the in-between. There are strangers who need our help, co-workers who need a reassuring word, children who need to be cuddled, spouses who need to be kissed, organizations that need our support. There are blessings awaiting us too if we are willing to pull off the exit and be present wherever it leads.

Really, there is no meantime, only time, and it is a precious and limited resource.

I want to leave my meantime mentality behind and just live—to give and receive, to teach and to learn, to pursue and be still. I know I can’t be the only one.

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Jillian Benfield

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The Gift of the Unexpected

What if the unexpected is the beginning of becoming your truest self?

Jillian Benfield was living life in the spotlight as a TV journalist, but after receiving a life-altering diagnosis for her unborn son, she realized no camera-ready outfit could dress up her grief. Overcoming this unexpected circumstance wasn’t an option. She would have to undergo it instead. In doing so, she discovered who she was and who God wanted her to become.

In this riveting story filled with grit and grace, Jillian helps you break down the false constructs you’ve built around God and your identity. You won’t avoid your pain, but you’ll learn to feel it, in a healing way. And you’ll discover how your internal transformation leads to external purpose.

No matter what you’re going through, you’re invited to open this gift: The Gift of the Unexpected

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