The Winds of Change

Change is a part of our lives whether we like it or not, but I have found that most people don't like change. I think it's because it can be scary and unpredictable and so many people fear it. I think it's because change requires so much from us.
It demands faith, trust, openness and flexibility. It forces us to let go of something that once was and look ahead to something new. It is a surrender to new things. It is leaving the past behind and moving forward.
I have experienced so many changes in my life. As a child we moved three different times locally and then as an adult I moved to college, moved back home for a semester and then moved back to college. After college I got married and moved to where my husbands family was and then ended up moving another sixteen times after that. A grand total of twenty three times in fourty three years. I sure know some change!!
I've learned to try to enjoy change because it always feels like a do over. It is new beginnings and fresh starts. It's a clean slate. It is what life is all about, but it is also hard. For someone like me who is emotional and feels everything, it always comes with mixed emotions.
Our latest move especially has had so many mixed emotions as we left friends and family behind from my hometown, but we also came back to where we had raised our kids and where we had called home for over ten years. We were only gone for two years and eight months, but so much has changed since we lived here before. Our church which we helped plant with my brother and we served in all different ways has changed tremendously including the location and a lot of the people.
We aren't living in the same house that was our only house we had ever owned so that feels very strange. Friends have moved away and our community looks very different. Even our town has changed as more people have moved into the area since we left and of course even we have changed. We are all different people even in two years and eight months! So many of these changes are exciting yet some are certainly sad. I see my kids adjusting to old and new friendships and we are all just trying to jump back into the life here we once had, but I'm realizing I have to be able to let that old life go. It's a new life. It is all going to be new and different and it is the start of a new season. It is a lot of change that requires vulnerability, bravery, strength, and trust. It's a new us. It's new memories made and new friendships that will be formed. We may not be able to do what we once did and may even find ourselves doing so many brand new things. It requires risk and courage. It is like the changing of the seasons that the Lord provides for us in nature. It ebbs and flows and sometimes it will feel cold, sad and lonely, but other times it will feel warm, happy and familiar.
It's a new fresh start that I am trying to embrace once again and I will remind myself that it's a clean slate. It is a starting over. It is creating something new. It is new things being born and new gifts and adventures to discover. It is more of Jesus to get to know in new and fresh ways. It is scary and it is exciting all at once, but I'm grateful for Jesus, my best friend who never changes who He is and how He loves me. He is always the constant during all the change that has been required of me in my life. I can always know that no matter how many moves I make He is the same through it all.
I will be grateful again for another change and all that it is requiring of me. I know that with change comes growth if I am willing to keep my hands open and stay in surrender to it.
I encourage you to not be afraid of change. Be open to it. Embrace it. Accept it. Trust it and get ready for new growth, new adventures and new risks worth taking.