change

 I started "Children of the Day" last night by Beth Moore.  I wasn't even sure what to expect out of the study, but I had heard it was in the same format as her James study and so I knew it was going to be good!  But...Beth Moore bringing The Word--how could even of it not be good?!

She opened us up with the backstory of how Paul, Silvanus and Timothy came about being braided together as one.  The three of them came from all different directions and walks of life and by many different choices and decisions, they eventually wound up together...which is exactly where God wanted them.  Those specific choices and decisions from each one of them, eventually lead them to each other.  Very similar to relationships and things that come and go in our lives today.  

Believe it or not, a lot of change has taken place in my life in the last 6 days.  I'm currently not able to talk about it...but let's just say sometimes life is about taking risks in order to get you where you eventually want to be--and that's where I'm currently at!  

During my childhood and teenage years, I was so against change.  I had my friends, in my town...and we had our routine and we were completely happy.  Why would we need to try and make more  or new friends or why would we want to start doing new things when we were perfectly happy doing exactly what we were doing and living life the way we were?---So I lived in fear of change...thinking of it as alway as a bad thing!   

College came around and I finally had the opportunity to see that change doesn't always have to be such a bad thing!  I love routine and am usually pretty dead set in my ways, but over time I have gotten so much better at accepting change and going with the flow of this thing we call Life!

I've also learned that fighting change just makes things even harder and definitely not the way you want to live your life.  

Over the years I've lost friendships...some of them were my choice, and some of them were not.  Once again...the subject of change.  Losing people is hard, and it's even harder when it's people who had been by your side for so many ups and downs in your life.  People who you thought were going to be a phone call away for all the years to come, and then all of a sudden they're not.  Change.

Beth pointed out that these are "remixes" in our lives and they have to take place!  As hard as it is to accept at the time of all the change going on in our lives...it's comforting to know the truth and that His plan is Greater!  So many of our lives are the same'ole 1st edition of a song that we listen to on repeat over and over again--and we never allow ourselves to listen to the remix...not even one time, because we're afraid and are too "scared of change".  I've totally been there and am SO guilty of clinging to that 1st edition of a song!  

But God hasn't placed us here to keep listening to that 1st edition of the song...and if we stay there too long, things are going to get boring and eventually stale and cause us to lose interest all together.

We have to listen to His remix.

I've learned not to be mad or sad about certain "losses"--when we dwell on the being sad or mad about a certain situation, we aren't open enough to see and meet the new and exciting things that He's placed right in front of us! [once again...TOTALLY guilty]  If our eyes are too busy being closed because we are mad or sad, how are we going to notice the new and exciting things, opportunities, and people around us??

"The next person we meet could become one of the dearest people in our lives"--When that moment happens, we don't know at the time they are going to change us forever, but if we are open at the time we met them, we are giving them a chance to change us and maybe vice-versa as well.  But, that chance and that change has to take place.  Once again...I am totally that person who is standoffish, simply because I'm afraid of change!!

Sometimes going on an adventure and accepting that change will break our heart in the process of saying good bye--but we are to let Him remix!!!

I am so thankful for this message!  I will say, I have gotten a million times better at excepting change in my life now that I used to!  It's taken a few life lessons to learn that change isn't always a bad thing, and it will be what you make it out to be! 

I'm not completely sure of what the future holds...but I've done what I can and know it's all in His hands.  Did I take a chance to see change (and hopefully even bigger change), YES!  Is it a bad change?  No.  But it's change--and any type of change is hard (which is probably why I feel a fever blister gearing up!!) but...we are here and I couldn't be happier for all the change that has taken place in my life recently, as well as over the last few years, because all that change had led me to exactly where God wanted and needed me to!  I am SO THANKFUL!   

A journey gone awry could lead to the exact frame of mind God is looking to use.  -This is exactly what happened to Paul, Silvanus and Timothy to draw each of them together.  I can't wait to dig into more of their journey and story together! 

Thanks for reading, and HAPPY FRIDAY FRIENDS!