(Im)Possible: Supernatural Possibility in Impossible Situations

By Danielle Zumpano

Learn to let go of the idea of what your life should be and take hold of what your life can be with the promises of God.

Many of us are caught in the classic rat race of life. We are constantly on the go, but in reality we are moving nowhere. We feel stuck and long for more. We question ourselves and ask, is there more to this life?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Dec 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781637699577

Book preview

Chapter 1:

Population Me

Have you ever sat around and actually watched or observed people going about their lives? Maybe you have listened in on conversations that you were not a part of while waiting in line at the grocery store. You could have gone as far as listening to the conversation the girl next to you was having on her cell phone while walking on the treadmill at the gym. Don’t lie; I’m guilty as much as you are! If you have done this, or even just took a millisecond to look at any human interaction going on in the world today, you can clearly see that as a whole, we are struggling. We are struggling to get by with our bills, struggling with our jobs, our marriages, children, and any other thing life may or may not be throwing at us. Heck, we even struggle with the what if’s in life that most likely won’t even happen! Modern-day society has so much on their plate; it’s no wonder that as a whole we are finding ourselves more and more lost. We are caught in the classic rat race scenario or the hamster wheel of life, constantly on the go, but in reality, moving nowhere. What’s even more depressing than that is the fact that half of us walk around every day on autopilot, not even realizing the condition of our lives and the lives of those around us that we say we love. We are stuck in this endless cycle. You don’t have to have a doctorate degree to see the societal shift over the last millennium and know that we are moving in what seems to be the wrong direction. We are spending our lives moving with no destination and those that have a so-called destination never seem to reach it. If you open your ears to the world around you, I am sure you will not be surprised by what you hear while you are browsing the store aisles or sitting on the soccer field watching your child play. People are struggling and hurting. How is this possible in what seems to be the best time to live? We live in an age where we have everything at our fingertips, yet we have never been so far away from the truth. I know this because I lived that way for most of my life. I grew up in a dysfunctional household without the Lord. I went to Catholic school from first grade through 12th grade, and I can honestly say that I learned nothing about God. I went about my teenage years and spent my early twenties thinking that everyone owed me something because I came from a dysfunctional home. I went into relationships thinking that the person I was with would fill the voids that I was missing my whole life, and everyone always fell short. I was coasting through life on cruise control with no real understanding of who I was and what I was meant for. I struggled with anger and I had a wicked temper. I met my ex-husband and we got married and had our son. The same month my son was born I got laid off from my teaching job. When my son was three months old, I lost my father. Soon after that, I lost my grandmother. While I was burying my grandmother, my husband had affair, then I lost my uncle. That was a very difficult year for me, but it doesn’t stop there. The following year, we were in debt that started to pile up from me not working and living off credit cards when he left me the first time that our house was in foreclosure. I was buried in debt with a young child and trying to manage my emotions while attempting to seek God in my own way. Soon after the rug was pulled out under me, I was confronted with more infidelity and separation. When I think about the string of events in my life, I see how complex they are. I began to see how many wounds I had, and still have, and saw how long it took me to be honest with myself about myself. When I look at people now, I can use my story and chain of events and think to myself, maybe they are going through something similar to a situation that I have been in, or maybe they are going through some different kind of struggle or deep emotional pain that is causing them to be disconnected. Like myself, maybe they are trying to battle the negative thoughts and heal their wounds on their own. I don’t know everyone’s personal struggles, but I can say that we all have wounds, some new and some old, that have left scars on our hearts and in our souls. Our past hurts are the reasons why we see patterns and behaviors in people that cause a long slew of negative reactions and emotions, because we are all struggling on a deeper level with something big. When we look superficially at people’s lives, we may not see these things. We see people driving nice cars, successful businessmen, the Pinterest fabulous mom, and so on and so forth. We then look at ourselves and begin to discredit and devalue ourselves. We begin to feel as though we are unworthy and maybe even un-loveable. We begin to approach the world intently from the me first standpoint even more and continue in the never-ending cycle that results ultimately in unhappiness. It is important that we recognize where we are in life and begin to shift our thinking from what we think we are to who we really are in God.

Toddler Time

We all come into this world as infants. We come into the world totally dependent on another life to exist. Without someone taking care of us, we would simply die. Many of us are taken care of by our parents, particularly our mothers. We rely instinctively on our mother as our primary food source and our basic needs provider. We also rely on our mother to be our source of comfort that helps to establish our emotional well-being that will stay with us for all our lives. Parents meet (or should meet) the basic needs of their child the moment they come into this world. We have all been there as infants and many of us have experienced this with children of our own. As children begin to develop from infants to toddlers, they grow in many ways, both physically and cognitively. It is actually quite fascinating to watch human development first-hand in our children, even though these are stages we have all been through. The stages in our life cycle are both objective and subjective. We all experience things developmentally, but our environment determines many other factors in our development. What can be concluded is that we have all traveled through the stages of infancy into adulthood. Maybe you have toddlers now or had kids and can vividly recall this special moment in time. Maybe your parents have told you stories about when you were a toddler. The toddler era is an extremely important phase of childhood development in many ways, especially in terms of establishing a baseline for an identity that will shape an individual’s existence forever. Identity, and expression of identity, is what toddlers do best. With a limited vocabulary, these days are incredibly primal, and toddlers need to use words to get their point across or to express what need they want met. Aside from the words, mama or dada, toddlers use the word mine as a primary form of expression, and rightfully so. It is during this time we really begin to see the me first mentality manifest and express itself, some more extreme than others. It’s really important that we look at children in this age group. They quite frankly could care less about anyone else other than themselves. Words begin to be strung together my mommy, my toy, my baba, etc... Children have not developed patience and they do not have any concept of time, so waiting for something is a daunting and difficult task. They don’t care if you’re in the shower, making dinner, or even on the toilet. If they want something, they want it right then and there. It is all about them, and we are lucky to live in their world.

The innocence of childhood and the beauty of limited knowledge to a child is wonderful. Seeing things through the eyes of a child is a term we frequently hear, and I do believe that in some ways we need to be childlike. But in terms of the me first mentality, that is something that should stay in the toddler era. The problem with society today is that there are many adults walking around on a day-to-day basis acting like oversized toddlers. The me first mentality is hardwired in us and ingrained in our human nature. Although it can be beneficial in some ways, it seems that this frame of mind has taken over society and we are surrounded with people who are only interested in living for themselves. That may seem like a harsh statement to some, but when we come to recognize our own me-first mentality we can begin to humble ourselves and actually make a change. In the last section I shared with you, I was living the me first life thinking I was owed something because my family was dysfunctional. Even as a Christian I struggle with it and have had pity parties in the past over situations that were happening to me. It is important to me that you see that I am struggling just like you. It is through the acknowledgement that we can begin to look at ourselves on a deeper level and work to change.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter Oh MY

Even if you do not use social media you know what it is, but pretty much everyone nowadays uses at least one social media outlet. Social media, if used properly, can be wonderful. You can share things with family members and friends that you may have not had the opportunity to do without social media. We can get news updates, coupons, discounted services, and detailed company information on these platforms. Churches and growing ministries can use social media to spread the good news and share valuable information with