I was coaching someone recently who had to process an early end to a dearly loved (and successful) athletic career. The end came unexpectedly due to an injury. I’ll be honest—I expected our meetings to be really challenging: lots of tears, anger, frustration, and questioning the why of it all.

So when it wasn’t ANY of these things, I started looking for what made this athlete different. I started to notice something consistently unique about how this athlete talked about the career that she was leaving behind. She used verbs.

“I did the best I could with the time that I had.”

“I worked hard.”

“I made solid, informed choices.”

“I listened to my coaches.”

She didn’t use nouns.

She didn’t say, “I was an athlete.”

She didn’t say, “Who will I be now that I’m not playing this sport anymore?”

She didn’t say, “I don’t know what my future will be now.”

It was an incredible experience to witness someone much younger than me completely nail the point. We DO life. We don’t BE life.

We wrestle with so much pain, anxiety, depression, and isolation when we mix up our dos with our bes.

Today I will do …

• a lot of mom-ing
• some wife-ing
• a bit of friend-ing
• some job title-ing
• a smidge of daughter-ing

And if tomorrow God, who does God-ing much better than I do, decides that I will no longer DO some or all of the list I just made, then I will still BE …

• loved
• healed
• forgiven
• found
• saved

Don’t get me wrong—I absolutely will grieve the loss of anything off the DO list. In some cases, it would nearly wreck me. And maybe that’s where you are right now as you read this. Nearly wrecked. But, dear friend, as you grieve, please remember that you’re still God’s. Let him do the doing. Just rest in BElonging to the One who is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)