growing up Archives - Tonda Solomon

Nothing Stays the Same but Jesus

admin — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 18:12:35 +0000

I’ve had a top notch job as Mama for 30 years. I knew it wouldn’t last forever. It is, after all, a job you really hope you work yourself out of. But I hadn’t thought much about my next. God began a good work that He’s promised to complete in me. I am confident that Tonda is prepared to carry everything I’ve learned until He declares “complete.”

I will always be Mom, but more-so as a consultant. My capacity to love well in this life has grown in proportion to my understanding of God’s infinite source. Nothing is really up to me. But I do my best work when I’m hidden in Him.

Be kind. Love well. It’s the Jesus way.

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Growth is Mandatory, Maturing is Optional

admin — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 17:25:08 +0000

I don’t have a green thumb. I can plant a seed and get it to break ground. But more often than not the plant doesn’t fully mature to produce what I anticipated, whether it’s a beautiful flower or a fat, juicy tomato.

I’ve made peace with this fact. But I asked the LORD many years ago to not let me be like my plants. I don’t want to be showy and green and impressive, but never bear the fruit I was intended to produce.

And definitely don’t let me sprout a tomato when I was meant to be a peony! I can’t imagine anything more frustrating than the Holy Spirit cultivating fat, beautiful flowers and me delivering a cucumber!

A lot goes into being a top producer of any crop. Some of it is stressful. But keeping those plants in the sun definitely goes a long way toward a healthy, vital plant. If I stay in the Son I’d say my odds are very good to mature as He intended. Kindness and love are sure signs of a bumper crop!

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Who’s too Big

admin — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 22:34:19 +0000

I can’t quite pinpoint when in elementary school I became aware I wasn’t like the other girls. But once I did the differences seemed insurmountable. Taller. Chubbier. A big ol’ clumsy mess that didn’t entirely fit the mold. BIG being the operative word. Don’t ask me where the mold came from.

Through the years I struggled with trying to suppress myself. To be shorter. To appear smaller. To downplay my awkwardness. My internal message was often you are too much, pipe down! At times it worked, but “big Tonda” never fully stopped pushing her way forward.

In high school I realized everyone had changed physically. Most girls had surpassed me in height as my chubbiness gave way to curves. But the damage was done. It didn’t seem to matter. I would always feel BIGGER THAN in every aspect of me, and for some reason that equated to WRONG.

Finally, through the organic mutation of life cycles I arrived at a revelation. My nest was emptying. My mothering was molting. And suddenly I knew that the BIG areas of me were for a grander purpose that made them fit. Instead of awkwardly fidgeting in my skin I began to let loose some seams and feel at home. I had made being Tonda way more difficult than it should have been. I had adopted the wrong standard.

God is infinitely BIG and He created us in His image. When He is our standard, we are BIG in the best possible ways – as He needs us to be. His intentional craftsmanship. That is so freeing.

Resist your attempts to minimize who you are. God created you to be BIG in specific areas so He can use it. Let that peace rule. Be kind. Love well.

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