Note to Self: Remember why you’re here. Start with why. Answer the why first.
Whether navigating marriage, motherhood, or life as a military spouse, remember why first.
If I speed past this question, it distorts every other element of the narrative.
I risk not discovering WHO I’m called to be in this space.
My plans for WHAT, WHERE, and WHEN could miss the bulls-eye.
Or I might miss the grace God intends to provide in this space.
5Ws and an H: The first W is Remember Why
Whether it’s a newspaper article or a speech, these 6 components form the framework for any narrative I write.
This is also the framework for the narrative of my life.
Sometimes, though, I get it out of order.
Inevitably, starting with the wrong focus muddles the message — and the messenger.
“Start with WHO and the focus is YOU.”
Whenever I’m simmering with negative emotions like anxiety, frustration, anger, or impatience, it’s usually because I’m stuck looking at me.
My tunnel-vision focuses on what I want, when I want it, where I want it, how I want it, why I’m right.
I need to lift my eyes up. Off of me.
So I scroll my friend Sara‘s Instagram feed to find an attribute of God to meditate on.
When I remember why first, I remember to remember God.
I am perfectly created by a God who knew me before I was born and loved me before I loved Him.
He knew where I would be today. I am here because God placed me exactly here for this moment in time.
Whatever you’re wrestling with today, shift your perspective. Remember why first.
Here’s one way I’ve used this approach in my marriage and as a military spouse:
When I’m struggling with discontent about where we live or because the pace of our life in the military seems non-stop, I remind myself WHY I’m here.
I’m here because he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him so we wouldn’t have to be apart any longer.
I said “yes,” and then a few months later I said, “I do.”
Because even when “here” is the badlands or snow-covered cornfields, we’ve decided every place is better together.
When I remember why, I reorient my perspective.
Friends, your WHY for every circumstance, role, position, or decision is a simple anchor of truth to trump your emotions.
WHY is not complex.
Don’t overthink it. Or complicate it.
Keep it simple.
I am here
deciding
writing
speaking
teaching
leading
waiting
(fill in your own)
because God created me, because God appoints my times and spaces, and because I have resolved to live what I believe:
I believe God will equip me to be WHO He created me to be and do WHAT He has called me to do WHEN and WHERE He ordains, and HOW He promises: through grace, with His strength.
What about you? What do you believe? Are you living it? Or are you believing what you live?
Shift the narrative – remember why first.