CHANGE

Change.   Sometimes you love it.  Sometimes you don’t.   Some people long for it.  Some people dread it.   Change.  Change can be happy.  Change can be sad.

My trusted online Google dictionary defines change as “the act or instance of making or becoming different.”   Different.  Not the same as another or each other. 

I think in some form or fashion we are all creatures of habit.  Face it, I like to sleep on the right side of the bed, literally.  If I sleep on the left side, my whole system is off and I sleep worse than I sleep already.  I’ve attributed this faulty sleep pattern to the aging process.  I don’t like pork tenderloin for breakfast.  Pork is fine but I prefer bacon and can eat sausage even though my lipids don’t need any of it.  I have several clothes in my closet that are nice, but I wear the same thing day after day or at least every other day.  Why?  Well, it’s comfortable. 

Ah….comfort.  Change, at first, can be uncomfortable.  And we all do love our comfort zones, don’t we?  My name is at the top list.  Life is one of those things that you can always count on to bring some kind of change.  There's really no way around it.  It's just what "life" does. 

I can tell you that The Girl has NEVER really liked change and has always been sort of a homebody.  And I don’t say that in a negative, bad way.   It’s just how some people are.  She was apprehensive to go away to college, but once she got there, she had a wonderful time getting her education.  Her parents explained that was the main reason one went to college—to get an education to aid in one's adult life.  The fringe benefits of making lifelong friends and social time was a bonus.  So, yes, once she got there and got accustomed to the change, she was just fine.

Then she got married.  Another change.  I think she has arrived in her own comfort zone in her own home with her own husband now at this point in time.  There’s still those little things, though, that she finds changed that she has to grow into.   For instance, The Girl and The Son-In-Law were eating supper with us a week or so back and she was looking for some sort of pan or bowl or something in the kitchen and it was NOT in the place that she was accustomed to before she moved.  I told her I moved some things around and got rid of some kitchen stuff.  Huh.  I could tell she was a bit put out.  Then she went to the refrigerator to get the butter and was looking and looking and finally asked where it was.  I told her up in the door.   She said, “Huh, you MOVED the butter?”  Distressed.   Yes, change can make one distressed.  I calmly explained that insulin had been in that spot for 21 years and now that insulin was gone, it looked empty and something had to go there.  Butter is what fit.  Duh.  The Son-In-Law got this look in his eye and said,     “Aahhhhhh.  CChannnngggee….”  It was a wonderfully funny moment.  It took a minute but The Girl finally saw the humor.  ;-)

Yesterday, our sweet pastor told us that his time at our church as pastor had come to a close.  Certainly not a change that our congregation wanted to hear.  I’m pretty sure there was not a dry eye in the building.  Being a PK (pastor’s kid), I know the pain of leaving a church where you have been loved and accepted.  Many times I remember pulling away for the last time as that pastor’s family and crying and crying in the back seat while my parents cried in the front.   When I married and stayed at my church while my parents and sister left as pastor’s family, I knew the feeling of both kinds of sadness at the same time.   So yesterday I could relate to the pain of a church family AND the pain of a pastor’s family.   Been there and done that more than I wanted to.  Not a fun feeling.

I know that just as God sent Doug and Patty to us those years ago when our church didn’t even know them and they didn’t even know us, God proved His faithfulness to us as a church congregation and poured out blessings to us that we thrived on and enjoyed for those years.  I have learned from Doug and Patty by their examples how to serve better, how to worship better, how to trust better, and how to love better.  If I haven’t learned this, it is a sadder day than I ever thought.  I will grow stronger because of these examples.  I pray that the Lord will provide Doug and Patty some time to concentrate on recovery and rest without added church responsibilities.  And I have faith that the Lord will provide the next pastor that we need as we continue on as a church and church family.

Life will give me more changes and not always those that I like.  The one thing I am sure of is that God is in control and the scriptures say that He NEVER changes and NEVER will.   If I trust Him, and I do, I know He will again supply the needs I have.  He promised. 

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:19