Change

I'm back.......
Sooooooo much change has taken place in my life over the last 5 years and I must say that I know one thing, I am not fond of change. I know that I would be bored if things stayed the same, but I like being in a rut sometimes. There is a false sense of security that goes with having things in place and being able to "depend" on things. The obvious thing here is that nothing is trustworthy on this earth. Nothing stays the same even if it tries because if there is life it is growing and that means change.
It is so easy to get connected to the things of this earth and then when they let me down, to be totally wiped out by them. I know that I can go into a tailspin when something is in my life that I've grown to love, to count on, to enjoy or appreciate suddenly is gone.
I do also know something else though. What change appears to be about at first when it happens isn't always what it really is about. Things appear one way, but later the change changes. Imagine that. It may first seem to be a bad thing, but later it appears to be a good thing. It may be that the outcome of the change appears to be going one way, but really isn't going that way at all. There always seems to be a bigger picture. What is good and what I was so comfortable enjoying may be so much less than what the Lord would have for me.Thus, change.  I just can't imagine life with things different than what they always have been. So often things turn out for the better if I just remember that all change has to be sifted through the hands of the Lord before they happen to me. I am His child and in His hands. That is the safest place to be through ALL change.

It's just a season.

I thought spring was on the way to Northern Iowa a while ago...like more than a month ago. BUT, it is still cold and now we have the spring storms and tornados that cause so much anxiety. I'm so thankful that God is a God of order. We know for sure that spring follows winter, and summer will be just around the corner. As we live our lives we know that these seasons come each year and that there are signs and that there are certain characteristics of each. We can count on it.
Well, the seasons of life are similar, but different. We can know the order, but what will happen in each season is so different for each person, and actually it is different every day.
This empty nest season is one that I never prepared for, and no one ever told me much about it. Maybe that is why it has been so hard. All my life I knew that I wanted to be a mom, and God blessed me so I was. I knew my job was to raise my children to follow the Lord, and I did. Now, they are on their own following the Lord and I wonder what my new job should be. Oh, I am here for the kids, but they don't need me like they used to. I pray for them and their activities, but I feel like I've lost my way some days. I am not sure who to help, where to help, where to work, what to do and that I'm making a difference in this world. Fortunately, I have the Spirit of God that leads me as I read His word, but unfortunately it doesn't spell things out specifically.
I read the other day the "The righteous shall live by faith."
Day by day, step by step, decision by decision, I move forward believing that I am headed in the way that the Lord wants me to go.....for today, and tomorrow, for a season, and for a lifetime. That is what this life is all about. Live by faith in Jesus.