Ch-ch-ch-changes :)

Today is about change. I’m not talking about the overnight, all of the sudden, smack you in your face change that happens to many people…. I am talking about the idea that change can be so subtle, that you don’t actually know something is better or worse until it actually is. You might not have even been looking for it, but here you are. Faced with your life being drastically different than it was a year ago and you’re living it. Like, actually (God willing) managing to live a life that is changed.

Change instills in us the ability to conquer any and all things, whether big or small, and make us know very surely that the world we live in is ever growing. Aside from the fact that I have two thriving young children, I have the tendency to not grab change by the horns and take control. Ever since my last birthday, God has shown me infinite mercy by leading me to a place where I can look back and say, “Man! Things are so different!” How long would I have allowed myself to stay the same in my life if the God I love had not intervened?  Where would my heart be and what kind of influence would I be having on my kids if I had decided to stay THAT course….?

For some though, change can give them a million chances to experience their world differently and they won’t move. Maybe they have attempted change for a while, but mix change with responsibility and these people look for the door. I will admit, everyone has been here before. Ya know, the crossroads that threatens our lives with a beckoning “CAUTION! WET FLOOR!” sign plastered all over it. We understand completely that there is a risk involved in taking the steps, but we believe in our ability to walk carefully so we begin moving and then BAM!! With our second step we have hit the wet floor in our new work pants and have no one to blame but ourselves. For me, it hasn’t been easy to laugh off the embarrassment or just get back up without throwing a minor tantrum, sometimes I would just sit in the middle of the wet floor and cry. Ya feel me? I’m sure you know exactly what that wet floor feels like through your work pants and can feel the redness in your cheeks begin mount as you slowly extend your hand to your best friend as they lift you off the floor.

Change. President Obama had it plastered across his campaign banners and Dr.Phil exclaims it to every guest on his show, “ You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.” What is it within the human spirit that relies on change to gauge where we are and what we are? In the eyes of a mother, change is a constant factor when making long term decisions for her children; for a teacher, change is learning to evolve their methods of understanding to the arena or age group in which they must perform in or in front of. Change gives no real warning and sometimes camouflages itself in unavoidable circumstances it never rights the wrongs people are subjected to when it occurs and it is always present. It’s in the joyful conversations between a set of best friends when one of them is going to have a baby. Or in some situations, in a diagnosis of lung cancer to a man well established in his ways. Change demands attention to detail and will make it sometimes impossible to move without first giving attention to the fact that something has got to give. Permanently.

The one thing I have discovered is that there are some things that will never change. I will always cry when I see a military family reunite; or the way the word cancer can strike fear into me. No one will ever change the way I love my children, it’s unchangeable and it’s one of a kind.

I’m just going to say it: God is the only unchangeable thing that has ever been or ever will be.

In His consistency and patience He is found to be wise and loving; in his persistent and gentle calling He is found to be mighty and gracious. There is no where He hasn’t been and nothing He hasn’t already thought of. In this I find comfort. My entire world could change and the only thing I know I could depend on is God’s voice navigating the wet floor for me. He is the best friend that reaches out the hand to help me up and reminds me of what it means to be forgiven.

I believe God works both subtly and abruptly in people’s lives to affect change for the better. Even when change comes in the form of lung cancer, it is God who is waiting patiently to navigate the unforeseen devastation for us. For me, change has been rough but subtle. God has made a way for me and my kids to navigate change well, and for that I can say without a doubt that I am loved by God. It shows! I have been eating better and managing my time better so Todd, Isabel and I have time together in the morning before we go our separate ways. It’s even in my posture. NO JOKE! I walk around work feeling like a million bucks sometimes because of the realization that faithfulness in times of change makes all the difference.

So whether subtle or rather abrupt, change is manageable with Jesus Christ. Hahaha, does that sound info-mercial enough for you?? ….. Anything is possible, if you just believe…..

Ok, ok! But the message there is true! God can navigate change far better than we could ever begin to, so why wait? Like I have said before, change is constant and can hide itself in many other life altering things. Why wait until you’re in the midst of challenges and trials to believe in the one thing that has been the same forever? God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.

XOXO