This is for the overachievers, the participators, the “do all thing”-ers, and the “I just can’t say no” people out there:
For 48 years of my life, I was THAT GIRL. My identity was in what I did and who others thought I was, but not in who I was created by God to be. I relished the titles… Supermom, Boss, Helper, Always Involved, Officer’s Wife, and SO BUSY… but they were never enough, because I could never DO enough and I always thought I could never BE enough.
The battle I fought daily was in my mind, but it was a battle that I couldn’t see and had no hope of ever winning. It was a continual battle provoked by the Enemy with an untold, deeper agenda of stealing my soul. After battling in my own power, I finally had nothing left of myself to give. My self-image was reduced to worthless dust in my mind after nearly five decades of trying to earn my place in this world. I had focused on earning my value through a constantly changing identity defined by the world, and I was exhausted from performing all the works demanded by the church, the military culture, and a demanding spouse with his own issues.
Finally freed from this bondage because I finally died to myself and cried out to God to show me who I really was, I know that I will never go back to my old ways of thinking. God drew me close to him through the Bible, in powerful worship and intimate times of prayer, and he has been demanding all of my obedience since that moment of surrender in August 2022. Since that day, it’s been hard to be patient, frustrating to wait on his timing, and at times, confusing because I’m often unable to see where he is leading me to.
Last fall, Holy Spirit demanded that I eliminate things in my plans, and he commanded me to say no to everything that had been a yes just a few months before. I spent more time with Jesus than ever before, and I learned to appreciate an empty calendar and ample quiet time with him. In the last few months, though, he has called me out into the community, and he has begun to fill every day with little space of my own. This is Kingdom work, I know, but I had treasured the nurturing time with Jesus alone. He has brought me through these days with more growth and lessons, though, and the peace that makes no sense as well as my identity in Christ has remained steadfast within me, praise the Lord!!
BUT LISTEN!! Today, Holy Spirit told me that he is teaching me how to snorkel! As I thought about that random statement, I realized how amazing that is when he speaks something so purposeful and unique to teach us a new way of understanding his ways.
THIS IS WHAT I REALIZED: When you learn how to snorkel, you must learn how to breathe the right way, remain calm and float, kick your feet to move to new areas, and scoop the water to switch directions while keeping your eyes open to see things that you didn’t even know existed. From the surface of the water, a snorkeler looks like a person simply wasting their day away as they float, but people observing from the surface CAN’T SEE what is hidden from view, except for those who are TRUSTing the air that they breath through the tube as they snorkel.
LESSONS LEARNED THROUGH SNORKELING, BY HOLY SPIRIT:
Know where your air comes from.
Trust your Teacher.
Don’t fear what you can’t yet see.
Just breathe.
Stay calm and float when you don’t have the energy to kick.
And always… KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN, BECAUSE GOD HAS THINGS TO REVEAL TO YOU!
(originally posted on Stephanie K Ford’s Facebook page, April 3, 2025)