The unripe places of my heart.

Maturity. It's the word that bites back at me when I stare it in the face.

As Christians, we move through the circumstance of this life, sometimes head down just trying to survive the brunt of it. But God's been prompting me to take a look around and see the things that I just want to bulldoze through as the very things shaping my heart and mind.

I'm thumbing through my usual go-to reactions–remaining quiet, separation from the noise, holing into myself for deep reflections–and realizing that even though God is very welcomed to search my heart (and please God do), I'm taking a break on taking stock of myself only to beat myself up. I'm also taking a break from my pride.

As I walk forward and keep assessing the road mapped out in front of me, I'm looking at everything with new eyes. Maybe not everything is happening at me. Maybe it's happening to me, but He is with me, orchestrating the hard and the hurt to mature the unripe places of my heart.