Yesterday morning I had gotten the fire going for the day, then I headed outside in search of “beauty in the ‘in-between.’” (I wrote about this in yesterday’s blog post)
I was outside for about 30 minutes.
When I came back in, the starter-fire had just about burned up and needed more logs.
The thought of the “in-between” was on my mind as I stepped outside to gather an armful of logs to add to the fire. I opened the firebox door to add the new logs … and some smoke wafted out into my house.
I don’t like fireplace smoke in my house!!
But that’s part of having a fire as a heat source for your home. You’ve got to keep adding more logs. If not, the fire will go out.
That phase of needing to add more logs to the fire – the current logs are just about burned up; not quite but almost … and new logs need to be added to keep the heat going – this is the “in-between” phase.
And it’s uncomfortable!
There is a degree of risk involved.
* Risk of getting wafts of fireplace smoke into the house. This doesn’t always happen. But sometimes it does.
* Risk of coals accidentally falling out when I open the firebox door. This doesn’t usually happen. But occasionally it does.
* Risk of getting fireplace smoke on my clothes. This doesn’t usually happen. But occasionally it does.
* Risk of the extreme heat of the firebox drying my hands out so bad they crack and bleed! (a problem for sure!)
Yesterday I wrote about the beauty that can be found in the “in-between” seasons of our life. But there is also discomfort in the “in-between” seasons of our life.
We all reach points in our life where what we are doing is not sustainable. Just like the starter-fire in my firebox was not sustainable. It had used up all its energy source. It needed more logs. It needed some bigger logs to keep going … and to grow.
So also in life, we reach points where we have reached an impasse. We can’t continue the way we are. If we just leave things alone and don’t do anything, the “fire in the firebox” of our life will go out.
We have reached an “in-between” place.
We have to do something.
But it’s uncomfortable! It’s scary. There’s a degree of risk involved.
In order to keep the fire in the firebox going, I have to open the firebox door. This creates a vulnerability (of smoke getting into my house). Vulnerability is part of “in-between” places. That is what makes it so uncomfortable!
But if my fire is going to continue … not only that, if my fire is going to grow … I’ve got to be willing to take the risk! I’ve got to be willing to be vulnerable.
This same thing is true in life. If we want the “fire” in our life to continue … not only that, but to grow … we’ve got to be willing to take the risk!
We’ve got to be willing to “open up the firebox door” and make whatever changes in our life require change.
We’ve got to be vulnerable to do something new. Something we might have never done before.
Maybe it causes a little “smoke” in our life. Maybe not. But either way, we’ve got to take the risk and “add more logs” if we want the “fire” in our life to “keep burning” and not go out.
And not only that, we’ve got to “add more logs” if we want the “fire” in our life to grow bigger … and hotter … and have a greater impact.
The discomfort of those “in-between” places are the key to our personal growth!
What areas in your life are you facing the discomfort of the “in-between”?
Discomfort is part of it.
We can’t grow without the discomfort of the “in-between.”
