To continue my journey of being brave, I ordered a bed for my extra bedroom. I mean, I could have only ordered a mattress for my existing futon but what is the fun in that? Sidebar here--- I ordered from Josh & Main which is part of Wayfair. Listen, they have the absolute best customer service EVER! They have won me as a customer for future purchases.
I was so super excited about this bed and bedding I ordered and couldn't wait for it to come in. It's seriously better than Christmas morning. A few days pass, and the text came in that boxes have been delivered. I couldn't wait to get home. When I pulled up in my drive way - there it was my beautiful bed and bedding in 3 beautifully plain big cardboard boxes. I've never been so thankful for tile floors that allowed me to scoot the fifty pound box into my house. I heaved it down the hallway to my extra bedroom until the weekend when I actually had time to put it together.
Then on Saturday, I took everything out of the box and just looked at it. I sent the picture below in a text to my friend with the caption "I don't even know what all these words mean!"
ALL of the pieces, y'all. What was I going to use to put all of this together, you ask? The answer, an allen wrench and a Phillips Screwdriver. I just had to walk out of the room. I thought there is no way I could possibly put this together by myself with those 2 things! Insert whine and pity here! :)
I took a deep breath and walked back in and looked only at step one and found those pieces. I was resourceful at managing holding one end up and working on the other end. Guess, what? I found I was totally equipped with that little allen wrench. Being equipped has been a huge part of my story I have been learning this past year. It's only been the last month or so that I have been speaking it daily.
See, before our feet ever hit the floor each day, we are equipped by our heavenly father for whatever we are going to face that day. There are parts of the day that I do have to walk away for a minute, take a deep breath, and go back and just tackle the first step. Life is so overwhelmingly hard at times. Being a principal is no different. There are so many issues that are new every day, but they are not new to the Creator whose mercies are new each day as well. What I learned from this experience is that I didn't need a lot of fancy tools to conquer this job (it's a good thing, because that would have been a problem). It's the same with life. God doesn't require us to have degrees or all these fancy titles and skills. He calls us to faith. The kind of faith to believe we are equipped each day even if we feel we only have an allen wrench in our tool belt that day. Taking one step at a time (my friend refers to that in real life as 15 minutes at a time), I was able to accomplish the task.
#winning
Now that my project was finished, I stood and looked at what I was able to accomplish with a set of instructions, determination, an allen wrench and a screwdriver..
Y'all!!! I. Can't. Even! I know it may sound silly, but I was so proud. I pulled out my other purchase for my kitchen and had it put together in no time. I was equipped. I had even more experience on how things go together for faster results the second time around.
None of this was done without a few mistakes along the way, scratches and a bruised palm from screwing everything in by hand (I totally think I need an electric screwdriver), but the bottom line was that I didn't have to be afraid of all of these random pieces, because I was equipped to put them in place.
I thank the Lord for equipping me for whatever He has for me that day. It has been a life changer for me. I approach situations and people so differently, I feel. Each day, I feel braver and stronger in my faith because I know it is not by my power that is making the difference but the power of the Lord. This, my friends, is what I know for sure: I am brave, I am blessed, and most of all I AM EQUIPPED.
Until next week, be brave, be blessed and know you are equipped as well.