Sometimes, you’ve just got to pivot

When I say the word pivot, what do you picture? Being that I grew up surrounded by farmland in rural America, I picture an agricultural pivot watering the crops. Although this is a type of pivot, I really want you to picture a basketball player this time. 

Imagine with me a basketball player preparing to move one direction and then swiftly passing the ball to another player. Or perhaps the player pivots to clear the way for them to shoot the ball.  They suddenly change plans, all while having one foot firmly planted to the ground. If they didn’t keep that one foot planted to the ground, they would lose the ball. 

This is a reminder to me that in life I need to be flexible all while keeping one foot firmly planted in Christ. There are times in our lives when things don’t go as planned and we must pivot. Recently, my family of four had planned a trip to visit extended family. We had hotels booked, bags packed and had arranged a pet sitter for our animals. 

The day before we were to leave on our three state journey to Nebraska, my son woke up with a high fever. Right there, in that moment on a March morning, I had to choose. Was I going to let circumstances have me or was I going to pivot and make the best of things. All while keeping one foot firmly planted in Christ. 

I am not perfect and I can’t say that I always choose to pivot. This time, however, I did and I found joy in a hard situation. It was not easy letting extended family know that we couldn’t make it at this time, canceling hotels, etc. Yet, I kept that one foot planted and the outcome was much better this time.

My son ended up being sick for a couple of days and then my daughter also for a couple more. Despite both kids feeling crummy, we were able to rest as a family, watch some movies, and care for each other. 

We may not have made it on that 12 hour drive to see our relatives, yet we were able to make it 3 hours away to a larger town for some fun family time once the kids were feeling better. We can make plans, but they won’t alway pan out. Today I encourage you, be willing to pivot.