What do you do when life throws you a curveball and you’re expecting an easy one over the plate? Sounds like a simple question, but if you ask five different people, you’ll probably get five different answers. Like—
Hit a home run
Step away from the plate
Lean into it
Wait for the next pitch
Get mad and take your ball home

I’ve done all of the above…some I’m proud of and some I’m not. But sometimes life comes at us so fast and hard it steals our breath away, taking our joy with it. So what should we do when that happens? I don’t know. At least not what you should do. We’re all different and we handle life’s challenges differently. I know what I do, and maybe it’ll help some of you who are struggling.

First of all, recognize we’re not always in control of our circumstances. God is. And He knows what we’ll face long before it happens—nothing catches him by surprise. So lean in to Him and give yourself time to process the circumstance. For some that will be a week, others longer.

Sometimes staying super busy helps. That helped me when a dear friend passed away. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes when we’re going through a difficult time, we can’t focus. We’re satisfied if we get one thing done all day.

That’s when we have to step away from the plate and accept that we’re not going to be able to meet others’ expectations or even our own. Sometimes we need to back away from everything, do mundane tasks until our hearts and minds heal. And they will. But you have to give yourself time.

Pretty sure I’m preaching to myself today. I’m four weeks post-COVID and having trouble getting my strength back. It’s hard for a Type A personality to rest, but God has impressed upon me that I have to take time to heal from life’s curveballs, and believe me, COVID is the toughest health curveball I’ve had in a while.

But sometimes God just wants us to be still and listen to Him, and evidently, the only way He can get a Type A’s attention is from the sickbed.