Into the Word Wednesday was created by these inspirational women. Check out their links and join in if you'd like!
Laura and Falen at Upward not Inward
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Kelly
at The Houtz House Party
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Tales For Ashes
Kelly at
Exceptionalistic
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Here in Florida, people voted for local officials yesterday. As I filled out my ballot, of course I thought about the presidential election in November. Leaders change every few years, whether we like it or not. People move in and out of Washington. Taxes go up and then down. Wall Street thrives and then sinks. Some days it rains; some days it doesn't.
Gasoline used to be a buck a gallon, and stamps were a nickle. We used to actually need stamps.
Jennifer Aniston is getting married for the second time. Tom Cruise is divorcing for the third time. Michael Phelps is retiring.
As an Air Force wife, I moved eight times. I grew up hating garbanzo beans; now I love them. Chrysler is going to stop making the PT Cruiser, my favorite car. For a short period of time in my adult life, I was a size 12. (How sweet it was.)
Stuff changes. Every day. Sometimes we like things better; sometimes we don't. (I still miss Lost.) This life is a series of transitions. Elbert Hubbard said, "Life is just one damn thing after another."
All this change is hard on the human heart, because people like comfort and familiarity. It's easier when things go as expected. We feel safer. Unfortunately, we're often disappointed, because circumstances, even people, are not permanent.
Luckily, as I was reminded in my morning devotional today....our loving God is unchanging. He doesn't pause, waver, or renege. What He says, will be. One way or another.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Heb.13:8
Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment....and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. Ps. 102:25-27
My heart rejoices in this. It gives me a place to land when nothing else seems solid.
The older I get, the more tenuous life seems. I see my mom and dad (92 and 89) decline almost weekly, and I know the time is coming when they will be gone. In all of eternity, we are on this planet a very short time. From plump, baby flesh to loose, delicate skin, we move from phase to phase until our time here is finished. There are a lifetime of transitions - losses and gains - in between.
If we let Him, God guides and shelters and provides along the journey. His life force is steady and strong and permanent. Everything else is fluid and eventually fades.
I used to jog. Then, I needed back surgery, so now it's walking for me. I used to teach; now I write. My blood used to be thin and fat-free. Now, it's thicker and clumpy, so I take a pill that helps.
Mom used to help me bathe. Now, I help her.
Nothing stays the same.
Except God.
What changes/transitions in life have you found difficult? What transitions have been rewarding?
13 comments:
We've moved a lot including one surprising stint overseas. I sent both my girls to university while I was on the other side of the pond. I tend to resist change but in hindsight know that God has grown me most during seasons of transition.
Are you reading Jesus Calling because I read this same verse in Hebrews yesterday : )
It seems these life changes are all difficult. Being an adult is so hard, and I'm tired of it. But you are right. One things stays constant and I love depending on Him when I let myself. I love how you wrote this in such open honesty and pain. It is perfect.
Do you read Ann Voskamp? Her blog can be a bit wordy for me, but I really loved reading this today: http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/08/how-to-really-live/
Mare,
I absolutely loved this. I watch my children grow and my mother and grandmother age...and somehow in my head I stay the same.
I read..."Nothing stays the same. Except God." and it was all good.
Amen.
Peace and good.
I loved this post. I have a difficult time with change in general, and I'm having a lot of trouble dealing with how quickly my children are growing up. Thanks for the reminder that God is always the same.
This was beautiful. And looking at that picture at the end just makes it all better. No matter how much you prepare, I really wasn't prepared for my husband retiring from the Marine Corps. Me, my son and my husband have all been home this summer. And it is weird. But I know its a transition outside of my comfort zone and whatever the anxiety I am feeling - "this too shall pass"...
Mare,
Your words are like my favorite blanket around me on a cold day... it knows me... your words felt today as if they came from my soul.. how beautiful you write. I too feel the constant stresses of life's continuing battle for change. I wonder some days if I'm up for the battle but the Lord pushes me to go on. I am grateful to feel the Lords constant love and companionship on most days... although there are days I don't feel the Lords presence and it's nice to be reminded that He is always there loving me. Thank You.
Carri
Yes God is never changing which is comforting, when so much changes around us, things we have no control over.......
An excellent post. I feel like without some change life would get pretty boring, but there are some things I never want to see changed and it's sometimes devastating when those things to change. The changes of aging can be blessing and curse. I'm getting kind of used to most of those changes.
Lee
Wrote By Rote
Hi! Nice to meet you via blogging world. Small world. I was an AF wife also for the first 10 years of marriage. I fear that I did remove that post that you wanted. Sorry. No one really commented on it, so I thought it was lame. :( oops.
My mom just turned 68 (we share the same birthday), not exactly ancient in today's world, but still I'm noticing more and more signs of aging in her lately. Scary stuff. Thank goodness God doesn't change and he is there all the time.
Tom Cruise is on his third divorce? Katie, Nichole and.....????
We moved a lot the first half of my married life. Each new baby was a change. My mom moved in with my sister and there's a good chance I'll never see the house I called home for so many years again. My daughter has moved much farther away from home and even though it's a good thing and we are all happy about it, it's a change. It's good to remember that God is the same always.
Divorce was the toughest transition by far, but losing my dad was pretty awful as well.
You're right about faith though. Without God to lean on through the tough times, there's just no way I could have survived some of the things I have gone through.
such a wonderful post
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