Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Embracing Change


When Mindy and I originally made our decision to put our house on the market, we wondered how to price it.  Mindy was so ready to move on from the house she lovingly refers to as the tic-tac.  We knew there were things that detracted from a house without a basement, so we began to question how well it would sell.  But then I began to think through the improvements we had made to the house, so I began to have good memories of it.  When we moved in, there was a huge tree between my neighbor’s house and ours.  In the beginning, our landscape amounted to little or nothing.  Our early furniture consisted of bad couches and pieced-together furniture.  Slowly through time, we acquired various items and furniture that looked more suitable for our house.  We inherited TV’s that progressively got newer, even though we hadn’t officially purchased one yet.  As we prepared our house to be sold by updating things, I began to really look at this house that held so many memories.  I got more sentimental about why we bought it in the first place.  And, as it would happen, our buyer had similar feelings about our house.  He was a first time buyer ready to find the perfect place, and he was not worried about the lack of extra space.  Currently our family is experiencing great excitement about finding a new place, but at the same time, we are mindful that it will involve change.  We had a huge yard for the kids to run and play in at our previous house.  We had neighbors with whom we had built relationships.  We lived close to family.  We were near our grocery store and pharmacy.  On many days we could walk to the store or our little park.  Costco, one of my favorite places to frequent, was less than a mile away.  By now you know I am systematic and those little things are important to me.  No matter how great a new house might be, we know we will have to readjust.  Things as simple as our mortgage payment, electricity, gas, and so on, will require budget changes.

Change is inevitable, but the question is how to respond to it.  When we think about things like new houses, we perceive that as good change.  When we talk about someone leaving us we see that as negative change.  We put a perspective on change.  The truth is, no matter what we change we will have to embrace what it means for the future.  As we are going through change, we are processing how it will be different and how it will feel.  We find comfort in things we can count on, and we rely on the things we know will remain the same.  This weekend we discuss how some of the people felt as they began to hear the teaching of Paul.  His change and how he presented it was unique.  The people responded to it with questions and confusion, but Paul tried to emphasize the positive part of change.  The only problem for us is that we can only realize that positive side of change when we see today for what it is, grieve the loss, and embrace the change.  Then we really are prepared to embrace change, which helps us to get ready for the next stages.

During my first call there was a guy who walked me through all kinds of stages of ministry.  He understood the culture of California, was a great support person, and did many things for me.  I grew close to his family, and we had great times together.  As time went on, it became clear that it was time for him to leave.  As he departed, I realized that even in such a short amount of time he provided a great foundation for me, but embracing that change was really hard.  This morning I was reflecting on where God took him.  Embracing that change meant knowing God would provide for both of us.  He would bring other support systems into my life, and He would also provide other people that my friend would serve.  No matter what change we experience, embracing it is difficult.  This week we process through embracing that change.  We take last week’s lesson and blend it with this week’s, because part of the change was the one that caused the people loss.  We talk through how embracing changes in life prepare us for God’s work in our lives.

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