LIGHT THE WAY

Free will, faith, and the small decisions that shape who we become.

We like to believe that life happens to us.

The job we didn’t get.
The relationship that hurt us.
The childhood that shaped us.
The setbacks we didn’t ask for.

And those things are real.

But so is this:

You still have a choice.

Not control over everything—but control over how you show up.

Free will isn’t about controlling outcomes.

It’s about choosing your response.

There are moments where it feels like everything is gone.

You don’t have the job.
You don’t have the relationship.
You don’t even feel like you have yourself.

But even there—you are not alone.

Because even when everything else is stripped away…

You still have something greater.

You have God, Spirit, or whatever you refer to as the Creator.

And that connection doesn’t depend on your circumstances.
It doesn’t leave when things fall apart.

That presence is powerful enough to pull you out of the darkest places—if you allow yourself to connect to it.

In 2021, I went back to school with a clear goal:

To become an assistant principal.

I expected doors to open.

They didn’t.

And it would have been easy to blame the system.
The timing.
Other people.

But at some point, I had to ask myself a harder question:

How am I showing up?

Because at the end of the day, I am only in control of one thing—

Myself.

And sometimes growth doesn’t come through promotion.

It comes through reflection.

I took a part-time job at a fast food restaurant.

Not what I pictured.
Not what I planned.

But it changed me.

I built relationships with incredible people.
I learned things about myself I hadn’t seen before.
I became more patient. More grounded. More aware.

That job helped me:

And maybe most importantly—

It helped me become a better version of myself.

If I had become a principal in 2023 or 2024, I would not be who I am today.

Sometimes what feels like a delay…
is actually preparation.

Free will is not just about decisions.

It’s about energy.

Are you showing up with:

Or are you choosing:

Because that energy doesn’t just affect you.

It affects:

The way you show up matters.

This is where everything shifts.

Because the power you’re looking for isn’t somewhere outside of you.

It’s within you.

That same presence—God, Spirit, the Creator—is not separate from you.

It lives within you.

And when you disconnect from that…

You feel lost.
You feel reactive.
You feel like life is happening to you.

But when you reconnect—

You become aware.

Aware of your choices.
Aware of your energy.
Aware of your impact.

You don’t become perfect.

You become aligned.

And that alignment is what changes everything.

But it doesn’t stop with you.

Because when you begin to recognize that you carry that presence within you—

You also begin to recognize it in others.

And that changes how you see people.

It helps you give yourself grace in your own struggles.

And it helps you extend that same grace to others—

To your family.
To your children.
To your friends.
Even to a stranger who may be going through something you can’t see.

It doesn’t mean you excuse harmful behavior.

But it does mean you understand:

Everyone is carrying something.
Everyone is learning.
Everyone is growing.

Just like you.

And knowing this helps you set boundaries—

Not from a place of anger, but from a place of understanding.

And it also helps you learn to respect the boundaries of others.

And sometimes, respecting those boundaries means accepting a hard truth—

We are not always meant to walk every part of this path together.

But trusting that if someone is meant to stay,
if that connection is aligned—

It will find its way back.

So that you can build healthier relationships—

With God,
With yourself,
With your family,
With your friends,
And even with the strangers you encounter along the way.

Change doesn’t have to be big to be meaningful.

It can start small.

A Post-it note with one positive thing about yourself.
Saying hello to a stranger.
Helping your kids when they need you.

Tiny choices.

But when you start to see the good you’re doing—

It builds.

Not like a snowball rolling downhill.

Like a snowball you’re pushing uphill.

It’s heavy.
It feels slow.
And sometimes it feels like you’re not getting anywhere at all.

But you keep going.

And little by little, it grows.

And when you finally reach the top—when you’ve built enough momentum—

You realize something:

You are the change you wanted to see.

You didn’t just wish for it.
You didn’t wait for it.

You built it.

You created the foundation.

Like the best snowball you’ve ever made—
the kind that becomes something more.

The kind that brings something to life.

For a long time, I was angry.

Mostly at myself.

And the way I showed up reflected that.

It hurt people.
It held me back.

But growth requires honesty.

Not just seeing the good in yourself—

But accepting the parts you need to work on, too.

And choosing to do better anyway.

That’s where transformation begins.

I want to be real about something.

I am still a work in progress.

And that’s okay.

Because I know that whatever is meant for me will not miss me—as long as I continue deepening my relationship with God.

That’s my belief.

That’s what grounds me.

And I also respect that others may connect to that in their own way—through Spirit, through the Creator, through whatever name feels true to them.

I know my purpose is there.

I know the impact I’m meant to make is in my future.

But that doesn’t mean I do everything right.

In fact, I don’t.

That job that impacted me—the one I’m grateful for—I still didn’t handle everything perfectly.

I set the wrong boundaries.
I didn’t leave the way I should have.

And beyond that—

I’m not always a perfect mom.
I’m not always a perfect friend.

When I’m going through something, I tend to isolate.

That’s something I’m still working on.

But I’m learning to give myself grace for those things.

And I’m also learning to ask:

Next time I’m in a hard place… how can I be different?
How can I do the work on myself without it hurting the people around me?

Because growth doesn’t mean you stop struggling.

It means you become more aware while you’re struggling.

You will have good moments.
You will have hard moments.

And both are part of the process.

The goal isn’t perfection.

It’s accountability and grace.

At the same time.

Today, don’t focus on changing everything.

Focus on one choice.

One moment.
One response.
One action that reflects who you want to be.

And start there.

God, Spirit, Creator—

Thank You for being present in every moment, even when I don’t recognize it.

Help me to reconnect with the truth within me.
Help me to align with the I AM You placed inside of me.

Guide my thoughts, my actions, and my energy.
Remind me that I always have a choice—and that choice matters.

And help me continue becoming the person I am meant to be.

Amen.

You don’t need everything to change overnight.

You just need to choose differently—one moment at a time.

Because that’s how transformation begins.

Still growing. Still learning. Still choosing better.

In solidarity,

Lyndsay LaBrier
Merchant Ship Collective
Light the Way