Always Growing in Our Days

(guest post by Katie Koplin)

“Look how much you have changed!”

“You’ve gotten so big!”

I saw my college roommates some time ago and we exchanged, along with hugs and delight, many, many cliché phrases about our kids. Seeing someone after a long absence reminds us of how slow and steady growth happens.  I see my kids every day.  My college roommates and I see one another every other year if we’re lucky.  When we see one another I become a gusher.  I revel in amazement. I exclaim my shock at how much the kids have grown.  When years or months pass by before I see Ashley, Natalie, and Lisa, I notice a change in them, as adults even… because we are always growing. 

Who in your life do you see infrequently? What changes do you notice when you gather again?

As much as I’d love to have all three of my friends living on the same block as me or at least in the same zip code, there is so much joy in the growth and change I see in them and their kids when we do finally get together.  Weddings are planned, babies arrive, jobs change, packing and moving happen.  Hard things happen in our lives and change comes out of those days too.  Parents get divorced, babies arrive that are not planned, long-awaited babies are lost, dreams seem far from reach.

Each of our days, filled with change, loss, joy, pain, and everything in between, are formed by God for us. They were known by God long before we were even a formed substance. 

Hear God’s planning and investment in our days in Psalm 139:16-18 -

Your eyes saw my unformed substance, 

In your book were written, every one of them, 

The days that were formed for me

When as yet there was none of them

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I could count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake and I am still with you. 

I was an incomplete and unformed substance in my mother’s womb. I was an incomplete and unformed substance as a child. And I can say without hesitation that I was an incomplete and unformed substance in college.  I had no idea what I wanted to do or what would become of me.   

Yet, all of those days were written for me. 

Each day before those days was shaped for me, and each day after those days has been shaped for me.  In 20 years, I’m sure I’ll look back on my 30’s and think the same thing about how unformed I was at this moment.  God shaped our days in college. He shapes today. He shaped all the days in between and he forms the days ahead.   

As I look back I can know that each day has been formed for me by a God of grace.

Take this a little deeper, consider some of your memories, some of the highs and lows, and some of the unique details of your life, and recognize for a moment that God shaped each of those days for you.

 Here are mine (Katie’s):

The days I spent in Lutheran School were shaped for me.

The days I spent on my grandparent’s dairy farm were shaped for me.

The days I spent in college were shaped for me.

Those young adult days I spent floundering not knowing what to do with my life were shaped for me.

The day I found out I was expecting a baby after a one-night stand...was shaped for me.

The day I had my first date with my husband was shaped for me (and for him).

The days I struggle as a parent are shaped for me and for my kids.

The days I can see a clear path and God’s plan by His grace were shaped for me.

The days we spend in this pandemic are shaped for us.

Here are Heidi’s:

The days wondering if I was loved were shaped for me.

The days of reading and learning and growing in elementary school were shaped for me.

The days of drama in junior high friendships were shaped for me.

The days of seeing my first therapist were shaped for me.

The exploration and excitement of travel and meeting new cultures and places were shaped for me.

The days wondering how best to use my gifts and where to find my place were shaped for me.

The days praying for health for a family member, praying for God’s intervention, were shaped for me.

The days of moving and disruption, and settling in, and peace are shaped for me.

What days would you note on your list? All of our days are shaped for us - days filled with joy, with despair, when we know how it will go, and those filled with uncertainty.  All of our days are shaped for us by the One who created us and sustains us.  

In all of our days, God is at work growing us. It’s not our hands molding and shaping our days, it is the hands of God.  Sometimes we don’t see it.  Sometimes the change is so slow over so much time we can’t see it.  Yet it is still there.

We are always growing because Christ is always at work for us and in our days.

GROWTH QUESTIONS:

What days would you add to your list?

What parts of you are obvious that they are incomplete and unformed to you? How might God be forming and shaping them?

What parts of you are less obviously incomplete and unformed to you? How might God also be forming and shaping them?

Note: Katie is a contributor at heidigoehmann.com. We are grateful for the insight she offers here! Find more from Katie on her website or as the co-author of our study, He Leads: A Study of Roads in Scripture. You can read a sample from the study below: