Hi everyone,
The day is bleak and cold, but I am enjoying a quiet home, some beautiful music and about to make some garden vegetable soup with my new blender! Days like this really nourish my soul.
The house is quiet because Jeff's at work, and Jodie is away at a camp. I remember the days when my house was very loud and very chaotic, a husband who mostly worked from home and four children fairly close together made sure of that! Can I be honest? I don't miss those days!!
I was out shopping this morning, and of course the conversation was about how really cold it is, and I don't really like winter, but to be frank I wouldn't like endless days of the same weather, no matter how perfect they may be. The bracing cold seems to wake me up.
Life brings different seasons, and I'm not telling you anything you don't already know there, and the changes can go from being a bit unsettling to very traumatic. I'm on the threshold of a couple of changes, in work and home. My job profile is changing, the hours will be changing, and while it is very welcome, hmm.... really welcome because it is going to release me to do things that are really very important to me, I find myself feeling a little unsure of myself.
The other thing is that Jodie is making serious plans to move out of home.
Thats it.
......No more children at home.
She's not moving far, and it's a happy move... simply her time to fly, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. On one hand the thought of just the two of us (Jeff & I) here together is nothing short of delightful, and I am both relieved and thrilled to come to this time in our lives feeling this way! But on the other hand, I am going to miss her being here, she's the last of my children and apart from that, she is great company.
I don't know about you, but I can have a couple of unhelpful responses to change.
One is that I try to figure out ahead of time what the change will 'look like', and somehow am surprised and dissapointed when what I can see ahead for myself isn't happening here and now. I need to relax and enjoy the transition. The Lord kindly revealed to me yesterday, that if what I can see ahead of me was on my plate now, I would fail miserably, because I simply am not in a position right now to sustain it. I still have some unfinished business of this season, even if it is nearly over!
The other unhelpful response is to want to 'hibernate' or run back to the past because I (we) love the safe and familiar, and I'm afraid of the new.
It's at times like this that I absolutely love God, I love the Word, and I am so grateful for Jesus coming and making a walking-talking relationship with God possible.
The one thing that is absolutely priceless to us in a changing world is having someone in our life that we can count on to always be there for us, not someone fickle or moody, someone we can rely on to stand with us while we deal with change. Someone who has become our 'safe place'.
Listen to what the Bible has to say about God in the face of change....
Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, so He does not lie, He isn't human so He doesn't change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?" (NLT)
Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I change not" Malachi 3:6
James 1:17 " Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever"
Matthew 28:20 "...I am with you always, even to the end of the world"
So in the face of change what I need to do is settle down, not try and rush into it ahead of time, or run back into the security of the familiar... but simply trust The Unchanging One who has promised to never leave me or forsake me. With that attitude of faith I can look forward to what the changes are going to bring into my life.
I'm ready to be 'woken up' by a change in season!
Thank you for taking the time to read, and lots of love,
Lynda
