Overwhelmed...

When I walked into this office on my first day of work, I was greeted by a jar full of chocolate covered coffee beans, a coffee-scented candle burning brightly, and a brand new mouse pad that says "It must be nearly time for coffee." Jamie handed me the 39 page training manual she'd painstakingly written just for me, and we launched into training: day one. I've never loved a job more and yet found myself as overwhelmed by exhaustion at the end of that first day. I wasn't sure I had the brain cells to learn a whole new world of lingo and skills.

Jamie ever so patiently reminded me that there was a huge learning curve to this job. It's true. When people ask me what I do all day - I ask them how long they have to listen. I do so many different things throughout the course of the day and most of it happens as a bit of a juggling act. Read this while that loads...sort these while that copies...you get it.

Jamie also asked me to give myself grace (say WHAT???) to learn the job slowly. She said it might take me a while to get the hang of the whole thing. Maybe even a couple of years. That was a lot to ask of a girl who likes everything learned by 4:00 this afternoon!

New stuff is overwhelming. New jobs...new babies...new relationships...new habits...it just takes a while to settle into it!

Last Friday, we talked to Dr. Taffy Anderson, who stepped out of her OB/GYN shoes for a while and stepped into the patient's shoes when she faced a breast cancer diagnosis. Hair loss. Exhaustion. Nausea. Feeling forgotten in the darkness.

Overwhelming.

Then we talked to Crystal Renaud, who found herself entrenched in a porn addiction at the age of 10. Now as an adult, she's gained victory in that area of her life and she spends her days ministering to other women who bravely confess to porn addictions.

Overwhelming.

Today we opened our Author! Author! show with Lori Hogan, who has written a book for physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted caregivers. Those who have to embrace a role no one ever really wants to take on.

Overwhelming.

There was the friend who emailed me asking if I ever felt overwhelmed by the job when I was first learning it, because she felt overwhelmed by her new job. (See above for my answer to that.)

Overwhelming.

What about the one who waited 13 years to have a baby and then had to set aside dreams and visions of snuggly evenings and sweet outings because her son had colic for the first six months?

Overwhelming.

What about the one who thought she would never be loved and then found herself tossed headfirst into such beautiful love that she spends each day asking if this really is her life?

Overwhelming.

He overwhelms us. That's what He does. It reminds us that we're dependent on His mercies, which are new with every sunrise. And they're new on the days when we can't even see the sunrise. But His overwhelming comes with such love. Such mercy. Such grace.

Lean on that, dear friend. Whatever overwhelms you today...whether it's a beautiful thing or a hard thing...lean on His grace!