WOW. I started to name this post WOW..Women Of the Well. Then I realized, it’s not just women. We all seek. We are all reaching for the next big thing to fill a void or get ahead or make a new mark or make us feel excited and alive. It’s rare that seeking anything in today’s world will coincide with the will of God. But we still want, we still reach, we still seek to satisfy what we crave. We’re all the woman at the well.

I had this beautiful vision of how my life would go. It was really special. You probably had one too. Hopefully, you got way closer to yours than I did. It’s not like I don’t still have plans for myself. I do. They’ve just changed, somewhat drastically, with the years and the miles. One of the things I plan for myself now, is to forgive me, for everything I wanted to do that didn’t happen. Even more, I plan to forgive me for the things I did that I wish I hadn’t. I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s a much longer list. And I still carry it every day. Now, I plan to take it to the well.

The last many months, I can only describe as intense. Drawn out and intense. Every detail of every situation has either been extremely painful, hard, irritating or just plain unbelievable. It’s been like living in some weird cross between Groundhog Day and The Twilight Zone, with a few pieces of silver thrown in for good measure. Not a whole 30 pieces.. just enough to add shock and interest to my scenario. It’s been a time of every contemplative emotional cliche’ ever coined. Soul-searching. Tried By Fire. Self-examination. Vow to change. You name it. It’s been a time of stripping myself down to my foundation and seeing what’s there. It’s been a time of wishing at the well.

As a woman of faith, I’m called to live a life that sets me apart as a Christian example to others. As a woman at the well, I’m the taker of wrong roads, a maker of bad decisions and an example of what you don’t want to be when you grow up. It seems like it’s been a bad habit to make the wrong roads, my only roads. Or at the very least, the ones I’ve traveled most often. I don’t know. Maybe I thought I was headed in the right direction and things changed. Maybe I was so wrapped up in myself that I didn’t notice what I was doing to anybody else. Maybe I figured I couldn’t possibly make any difference to anyone. Maybe I was just lost. Maybe that’s why I’m a woman at the well.

Recently, I’ve met so many new people, learned new things, gone new places and made new friends. I’m branching out. I met a woman who, I’m pretty positive, is the devil incarnate. Disease is eating her, from the inside out. Maybe that’s part of her problem. She made me grateful to be me. I met a gentleman who, for a split second, reminded me of my dad. He even joked about his bald head, like dad. And I met the sweetest, most giving woman I’ve ever had the privilege to know. She is beautiful and I will always call her my friend. I met these people on one of my recent roads. I wasn’t lost this time and it wasn’t a wrong road. But it wasn’t the right road for me, so I made a change. One of the best things about my newfound perspective is that, when I find myself on a path that’s not good for me, I know how to turn around. And head for the well.

Things are finally calming down for me. I’m pretty much figuring out each day as it comes. I’m not worried about the past or scared for the future, but I still flounder sometimes. Maybe you do too. Maybe you worry that whatever you do will be wrong, so you guard yourself and don’t let anyone in. Maybe you think your past will come back to haunt you, so you live in fear and dread. Maybe you feel like people won’t accept you, so you don’t reach out and try to make friends. I get that. I see you. I am you. But whether it was last week, last month, last year or last decade, every person in this world has taken more than one wrong road. The difference lies in what you do when you find yourself there. You can always turn yourself around and then help somebody else do the same. I’m going to make big mistakes because I’m human and that’s what I do. Jesus knew that. That’s why He meets me at the well. He knows I’ll be thirsty. He knows I’ll come find Him. He knows I’ll always come home.

I’m just a woman at the well, like you. We are all alike. We are all in this together. We can all still make a difference. If we all come to The Well.

You’re not alone. I’ll meet you there.

Matthew 5:8