Hubby and I have been watching a fascinating PBS Masterpiece series entitled: Victoria. I have been greatly enjoying this series. It is about the life of Queen Victoria, one of England’s greatest monarchs.
Something I have found fascinating in watching this series is that Queen Victoria did not start out as a great monarch. She was only 18 years old when she became queen, and being so young, sheltered, and inexperienced, she had no clue what she was doing!
She grew into greatness … little by little, over time … as she made the best decisions that she knew at the time.
I have found it fascinating to watch this progression into greatness unfold throughout the series. For sure Victoria made some mistakes along the way. But she also learned and grew in wisdom as her life unfolded.
The final episode of season 1 dealt with Victoria’s pregnancy and the birth of her first child. During the 1800’s it was not uncommon for ladies to die in childbirth, and potentially the child to die as well. Therefore, the episode dealt a lot with Victoria’s fears concerning childbirth, and the nation’s fears as well. The episode ended with Victoria and Albert holding their newborn baby daughter in their arms.
As I watched this episode, it brought to mind all the many fears I had when I was expecting my first child. Just like Victoria in the series, I had no clue what I was doing!
I was every bit as fearful of the unknown! And when the nurse placed my newborn baby in my arms for the first time, I was overcome with just how much I had no clue what I was doing!
I couldn’t believe the hospital was really going to let me take this helpless little infant home to care for … when I had no clue what I was doing!
And yet … just like in the drama series about Victoria … I grew into motherhood, little by little, over time … as I made the best decisions I knew at the time. For sure I have made my share of mistakes along the way. But I have also learned and grown in wisdom as my life has unfolded.
It’s easy to look back over our life at the decisions we have made along the way, and to beat ourselves up for making such “dumb” decisions. But we were making the best decisions we knew at the time. We didn’t have today’s wisdom back then.
The reason we have today’s wisdom today, is because we made those mistakes back then … and we learned from them!
It takes time to grow into greatness! It doesn’t happen overnight.
Hubby and I had no clue how to care for a forest when we first moved into our forest home several years ago. We could tell the forest needed some “tender loving care.” Hemlocks were dying. The land seemed to be calling out for some attention. But we didn’t know what it needed. We weren’t sure exactly what to do. We didn’t want to accidentally do something wrong and cause harm by our ignorance. But we had to do something.
So we did the best thing we knew to do.
And God helped us with what we didn’t know.
God helped us to do the right thing, even though we didn’t know it was the right thing at the time. This has been one of the biggest takeaway lessons I have learned in our recent forestry class. All those early decisions hubby and I made … they were actually the right decisions.
For sure I have made mistakes. Such as all the salmonberry bushes I have been pulling up with fervor! Salmonberry is not an invasive “weed” at all. In fact, it is a beneficial plant for the forest. As opposed to the holly, which is an invasive noxious plant and must go!
The holly tree has been boldly standing front-and-center right out from my kitchen window all along! I even wrote several blog posts about it last January.
I didn’t know. I simply didn’t know the holly was the invasive species.
But this is life … we make the best decisions we know at the time. Even though there might be some mistakes along the way. And little by little, we learn. We learn from the mistakes. We make adjustments and course corrections. We grow in wisdom.
What are you facing right now which is causing you likewise to say: I have no clue what I’m doing!!
Perhaps you are thinking: “I don’t know how to do this! I’ve never done this before! Everyone else knows so much more than me! Everyone else is so much more qualified than me!”
Even though you might not know what you are doing … God will walk you through it.
You don’t have to be “qualified.” You don’t have to “have all the answers.” You just need God.
Face with courage that fearful unknown and simply make the best decision you know at the time. God will lead you along the way … and guide you one step at a time.
