Circles — Soul Purpose Coaching

I was reading Psalm 23 in my Passion Bible Translation yesterday morning. Verse 23:3 struck me. It says, “He opens before me pathways to God’s pleasure and leads me along in his footsteps of righteousness so that I can bring honor to his name.” The footnotes also spoke to me about how our lives are full of circles.

It says that the footsteps of righteousness can also be translated as “circular paths of righteousness.” It is common for sheep on the hillside of Israel to circle their way up higher. They eventually form a path that keeps leading them higher. This is what the author of this psalm, David, is referring to here. Each step we take following our Shepherd will lead us higher even though it may seem we are going in circles.

I love that imagery! Does it ever feel like you are going in circles in your life? Maybe the circuitous nature of your life is subtle or maybe it is more obvious.

For myself, last fall in September, my hubby, Chad, and I moved back into my childhood home in Frankfort, Indiana per a very generous deal with my parents. It has felt like a huge circle. I did not think I would ever live in Frankfort again. But here we are, finding our way.

Each of us have an interesting and totally unique pattern to our lives. Did you ever look through a kaleidoscope as a child? I did and at first it was blurry but as you turned it and looked longer an interesting pattern emerged.

It can many times be hard to see the intricate and beautiful design of our own lives. It can be helpful to step back and observe your life and take the time to reflect upon it. Having someone to help you do that is a gift because looking at it on your own - you may falsely assume that there is no pattern and it is just a mess.

As I now live in my childhood home, memories pop into my mind from when I was five or 14 and it is truly an interesting (note that interesting can mean both beautiful and challenging) experience to have so much history here. Chad and I also got married in the backyard in 2020 and that is a lovely, newer memory here.

It is not easy for me to formulate words to describe all that I feel living here. I suspect it may take years to fully unpack and realize what moving back here means to me. To start over where my life began. There is beauty and simplicity in this movement home.

In 2017 after some major life shifts (a divorce and moving from Washington state back to Indiana), I started refinishing furniture. I was craving creativity and using my hands to do work rather than just sit and think. My whole life, I have gravitated to undertaking home projects when I have been grieving. I remember ripping the green carpet up from my bedroom floor after breaking up with my boyfriend of three years after my senior year of high school. I wanted to find the hardwood beneath and refinish it. There is something therapeutic for me to make a physical outward change when my inward world is being changed/rocked. Are you anything like that?

My beloved Grandma, Geletza Helveta Goslin Pearson left me some beautiful antique furniture when she passed. So, with some help, I learned how to sand it down and repaint it making it look shabby- chic. I first painted a dining room table and chairs a bright periwinkle blue and then, a hutch a rich cream color and then a large dresser a lime green shade. I remember listening to podcasts and music and sometimes crying but feeling like I was expressing outwardly what was happening inwardly. I was changing and transforming and it felt painful and necessary.

Looking back now, I realize that this is part of my calling. I love to help others see the beauty and pain in their stories. I, then, enjoy helping individuals to connect the dots and find a way to recreate their lives in a new, cohesive and wholehearted way. There is something exciting with taking into account ALL of your story and history and creating a beautiful way to express oneself in the world.

In this current season, Chad and I are doing this as well. We are in the process of obtaining a building permit to build a mother-in-law house on the property for my parents for when they come to Indiana (as they are mostly in Florida). We also have a vision of the property to be a healing place for people to find rest and refreshing.

This has been a long process to get all the pieces together to build. It has a similar feel to refinishing old furniture. We are slowly making our mark on the land and the property. It is a slow process but I have a sense that it is and will be rewarding for our family and for others in the end.

Going back to the original verse from Psalm 23. Many times, I see God working in my own and others’ lives in this beautiful and what sometimes feels like slow way. We are, like the sheep, ascending the hillside. It can be hard to notice that we are going higher and it may feel like instead we are going backwards. But, there are also times where we have a majestic glimpse of just how far we have come. It is all good work - even in the messy and uncomfortable seasons of life.

I encourage you to reach out for support when you need it. Maybe to a friend, a mentor, or to me - if you’d like! Having another set of caring eyes on your story can make all the difference! I have experienced this to be true in my own life as well. I’m happy to chat to see if I might be a good fit for this season of your life.

Love and Blessings, XOXO Shelley Pearson Garrett