Coming to Terms with Change

I'm not big on change. In theory, I love it because it keeps life interesting. But in practice, it's tough for me to set aside what I know for something different. I suspect it's because I like routine. A lot.

I like getting up in the morning with an expectation of what the day will be like. I like doing things a certain way, I like traditions, and I like to know what's required of me (and when). I appreciate having plans well in advance. I like to be prepared for things beforehand, and routine helps me achieve that. But sometimes, as much as I thrive on routine, it gets a little boring.

Over the past few months, I've learned that experiencing something new isn't the hard part. Changing my routine is.

With routine comes security, assurance, constancy and comfort. When routine is thrown off, I often get grumpy or short-tempered, and I feel off-balance and "not myself."  (Look at babies--they're the same way.) But when the routine is all there is, when days become so predictable that it feels I've lived the same one over and over again for weeks, routine gets tiresome. Getting out and finding new things to see, do, or learn refreshes my spirit and makes me feel that I'm actually living, instead of just being passively alive.

And yet, change is still hard.  And change is just around the corner. Not just for me, but for many people I love, too. Some of the changes are hard to accept because we aren't really sure what to expect. When people move, when jobs change, when the things we know and have come to rely on are suddenly different, we start to feel like our whole world has shifted in some cosmic way, and we are left trying to hold on to something--anything--with which we are familiar.

And yet, even though these changes are difficult, they are good. Difficult doesn't always mean bad. In fact, very often, enduring difficulty produces the things that are the most beautiful, most precious parts of our lives. New and difficult changes are an opportunity to learn, grow, and enrich our lives.

Eventually, we'll grow accustomed to the new things we're about to experience. We'll have new routines, new traditions, and new memories. They will not replace the things that are important now; they will expand upon them and enrich them.

So, to those whose lives are changing in the coming weeks and months, to those who are preparing to begin something new, I hope you will welcome it and not resist it. I hope you will join me in taking the beautiful memories of the past with us. I hope we will go on to live our days steeped in who we are and what is important to us while also allowing the new places, new people, and new ideas to enrich our lives.

After all, aren't God's timing and purposes perfect? Difficult, yes. But good--and for our own good, right? As we yield to him, we gain so much, and perhaps we will realize that the things we feel we've lost aren't really lost after all.

 There is a time for everything, 

and everything on earth has its special season.

 There is a time to be born and a time to die.
    There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants.
There is a time to kill and a time to heal.
   There is a time to destroy and a time to build.
There is a time to cry and a time to laugh.
    There is a time to be sad and a time to dance.
 There is a time to throw away stones and a time to gather them.
    There is a time to hug and a time not to hug.
 There is a time to look for something and a time to stop looking for it.
    There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away.
There is a time to tear apart and a time to sew together.
    There is a time to be silent and a time to speak.
There is a time to love and a time to hate.
    There is a time for war and a time for peace.

Do people really gain anything from their work? 

I saw the hard work God has given people to do. 

God has given them a desire to know the future. 

He does everything just right and on time, 

but people can never completely understand what he is doing. 

So I realize that the best thing for them is to be happy 

and enjoy themselves as long as they live. 

God wants all people to eat and drink and be happy 

in their work, which are gifts from God. 

I know that everything God does will continue forever. 

People cannot add anything to what God has done, 

and they cannot take anything away from it. 

God does it this way to make people respect him.

 What happens now has happened in the past, 
and what will happen in the future has happened before.
       God makes the same things happen again and again. 

--Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15