The hope for new beginnings in parenting mistakes lies in self-reflection. It’s taking those moments apart piece by piece, examining the portions in God’s presence. Once the pieces are all out on the table, we can learn from them.

In times of transition, we struggle and second-guess our decisions for work and calling. What I (and I suspect many others) didn’t realize was that the questioning would periodically creep back into my life, even ten years after college.

There have been many times when I have longed for precise life directions, when I wished for explicit guidance in the face of uncertainty. While the Bible makes clear God’s moral will, it doesn’t leave us specific instructions. Instead, Jesus gives us a simple command to love God and love others, a command that can be carried out in billions of ways. Although how we live out this calling is largely up to us, we can glean some helpful principles from scripture.

Instead of overhauling our lives in one fell swoop, Christ invites us to show up in the messy middle of the everyday and glorify Him there. You see, our invitation to create with Him is less about the end result, and all about the transformative work that takes place within us.