90° corner back.

I took my drivers test twice in high school.

During my first attempt, the 90 degree corner back got me. My parent's Buick got a little too acquainted with those bright orange cones.  

It wasn't the Buick's fault. Or the cones. The driver just hadn't quite mastered the move yet.  

But as a 15 year old hoping to walk away with my farmer's license that day, I allowed it to be a pretty big bummer. As a 29 year old looking back on it all, it makes me chuckle.  

Especially when I think about an image that God gave me the other day as I thought about all the stretching and growing I am in the midst of right now.  

I saw myself in my car with Jesus and he was teaching me to drive. And guess what we were working on?  

Yep, 90 degree corner backs.

He certainly has a sense of humor, don't you think? 

In this vision, Bertha, my Pontiac, was getting acquainted with those bright orange cones. I wasn't exactly thrilled about it right away.  

Until I realized Jesus wasn't freaking out about it. He wasn't upset with me. He didn't think I was incapable of getting it. He wasn't disappointed. In fact, he was kind of laughing. Not at me. Just at the situation. He was delighted in the whole deal. And he released a whole bunch of grace and joy in the learning process. I lightened up and laughed, too. And kept pressing in and trying.

In life lately, I'm learning how to do 90 degree corner backs. Things with relationships. Confrontation. Stewarding time. Forgiveness. Honor. Leadership...

As I learn, I am hitting some cones. Each time it happens, I'm realizing more and more that I have a choice. I can choose to give attention to the pain and lean into the disappointment of the situation. Or I can choose to press into God, praise Him, and receive healing and courage to keep going.

I'm not suggesting we need to deny the hits and shove them under the rug. But we certainly don't need to glorify and feed them either! The pain of "hitting cones" will happen in life. As Becky said last night, "Put it on your planner!" 

It's what we do when we're faced with the challenges. I think how we react or respond is the true test of revealing in whom or what we're placing our identity.

...phew, that's hitting my heart big time in the last couple of weeks.

It always comes back to identity. Wow. 
    
... this seems like a good pause point ...

Alright, now jump back to my drivers test for a second. If I didn't go back and take the test for the second time in high school, I'd still be getting around on a bike today.
  
I'm not knocking bikes here. But seriously, why ride around on a bike when there is something far greater and more powerful as your inheritance?

If I don't press into these current challenges, before I know it, I'll be 89 and still avoiding the corner backs of life and will have strayed away from my purpose and inheritance.

No thanks! I choose to press in and leave an imprint in my Daddy...

What are your corner backs of life right now? What would it look like for you to press into God and courageously move forward...or backward, that is, if you're doing a corner back.

Friends, I declare right now an outpouring of grace, healing, and courage to take ownership in our lives!