It was my lunch break in between counseling sessions and I eagerly awaited calling customer service with the company that holds my retirement money. It’s a new season full of transitions and I am holding the tension of enjoying the freedom in being self employed and also holding the stress of developing long term financial planning on my own.

Customer service representatives have a tough job! Their job requires them to take call after call of potentially high strung, stressed out, and concerned individuals on the other side of the line. Today, I was one of those individuals. I called, became more flustered than I already was, felt discouraged, and ended the phone call due to my next counseling session appointment coming up. Ughhh, that didn't feel good.

Before I knew it, time had flown, it was time for me to start another counseling session, and I felt, to put it plainly, mentally and emotionally depleted. My back was tense, shoulders shrugged, my heart and head felt heavy. How was I to return to joy in less than a minute, and be glad to see this loyal client of mine who has come so far in their healing journey?

The truth is, I had to muster up a smile, I had to practice some quieting skills on the go, and as I conversed with this client, I intentionally needed to fight off distracting thoughts about the disappointing phone call with customer service I had just had (Note to future self, don’t try to get your retirement questions answered on your lunch break in between counseling sessions).

Here I am with this client, a complex trauma survivor with a history once so broken, now on its way towards greater redemption as time goes on. We briefly chat about the past week, we dive in. We decide to dwell on this client’s accomplishments this year. No impatient hospital visit last year, no suicide ideation in 6+ months, this client is starting to dream, not dream again, but dream for one of the first times in her adult life. For one of the first times in her adult life, she is starting to think ahead rather than just try to survive through the throws of today, jump through the hoops of depression and PTSD, she is dreaming of what she might become and create in her future. She has hope. I’m reflecting on these milestones with this client, my heart and body is starting to feel lighter, more present, I can feel a genuine smile crossing my face.

We, my client and myself, together, decide to take the reflecting a step further and seek what Immanuel says about the client’s personal growth and development so far. We both close our eyes, we ask Jesus to share with us what He thinks about her growth and development, and how he feels about us reflecting on it.

I feel tears well up in my eyes, though they are still shut. I sense His peace and enjoyment over this client. I sense his admiration for this client. I sense His Joy over this client. Within seconds, my previous worries, frustrations, and anxieties about my retirement account and money fade away. I am relishing in His delight over this client. My body feels peace, warmth, and relaxation again. I have found my best self again. I have returned to joy from anxiety and fear.

It would be like God to use dwelling on the growth and healing of another, to help me return to my best self again. It would be like God to use a counseling session, to teach me an important lesson, too, to remember not to worry but to appreciate the good stuff. It is like God, to delight in this client. It is like God, to help me return to joy when I experience big, negative emotions. It is like me, to write about this ordinary moment that became extraordinary, because appreciation, brought me back to joy, appreciation, brought me back to myself, God’s peace, and being present with this very special client of mine I have the privilege of visiting with on a regular basis.

Psalm 18:19 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

Mathew 6:25-34  “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?  Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing,  yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.