Change is hard. Oftentimes, even if it’s a good thing, it’s hard and it most definitely hurts. It doesn’t necessarily physically hurt; that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about internal, mental, and emotional pain.
Some of the best things in life bring certain pains: marriage (you now have someone else’s habits you have to get used to and some of your own habits may get completely tossed to the wayside); moving (you may be moving ten miles or ten hours away, but things will never be as they were). Some of the hardest things in life also bring pain: divorce (whether you’re the one going through it or you’re a child of a broken home, this hurts); being diagnosed with a disease (or having someone you love be diagnosed – either one of these brings pain, anxiety, and many other negative emotions). I could go on and on with giving examples, but I will never be able to name them all.
No matter the change in your life, you can never be fully prepared for it. In December of 2018, I packed up most of my belongings (thanks, Mom and Dad, for storing the rest of it for me! haha!), shipped off my car, and plopped myself in a plane to begin working in California – a whopping 2,777 miles away from everything I’ve ever known. I knew things were going to be different, but I wasn’t fully prepared for just how different things would be! The changes weren’t bad, per se, just… different. Though I had lived away from my family before, it had been a 4 hour drive versus a 40 hour drive…
I wasn’t the only one who had to deal with the changes that came along with my move. First, I was entering a job in a church where I was asked to change the music/worship style: though the congregation was asking for change, actually experiencing it was painful! Second, I was leaving behind family members, friends, and another church I had served at for several years. I’m not going to go in and describe every single change everyone else had to deal with, but I am someone who loves to help other people (maybe not always for altruistic reasons I’ve recently discovered – but I’ll talk about that another time!). My help was no longer available to anyone on the east coast due to this large change.
And now? Coming into November of 2020, it’s time for me to go back home! Which means change has to happen for everyone once again.
And this is where our title question comes in: why do things have to change?! Wouldn’t life be so much easier if things just consistently stayed the same? Yes. And no. Can you imagine a life where everything was the same every single day? That would be pretty boring in my opinion. There’s more to it than that, though.
If I had chosen to remain at home – if I had chosen to not travel to California – several huge things would have never occurred:
- I wouldn’t have developed some of the best friendships of my life
- I never would have started this blog
- My Christian fiction books may have never escaped my computer
- I wouldn’t be as strong in my faith as I now am
- I wouldn’t have learned to accept every part of myself
- I may have never been brave enough to use power tools (I bought my own jigsaw!!!)
- I wouldn’t have imagined a ministry where I can reach people I’ll never meet in person
- I wouldn’t have gotten Kota (you know I had to mention my cat…)
The list of things that never would have happened if things hadn’t changed in 2018 goes on and on. Above are just a few of the many.
Change is hard. There’s no denying that. But I can promise you this: change is worth the pain, the stretching, and the growing.
Take ten minutes (okay, five!) to reflect on a change that’s happened in your life recently and list the good things that have come from it. At first, you may see absolutely no good. And that’s normal. We tend to see the bad far more easily than we notice the good… That’s why I suggest ten minutes – it gives you a little time to reach beyond the bad and start grabbing hold of the good. Once you’ve taken the time to do that, I think you’ll start to see why the change(s) in your life had to happen.
Don’t forget: I’m here! Message me, email me, find me on Facebook! If you’re looking to faith at all and you’re wondering if anyone in the Bible ever had to deal with change: YES! Many of them dealt with change, but find the story of Joseph (not the step-father to Jesus, the other one, from Genesis!). Joseph’s story is one of huge changes! It’s a long story, but read it in smaller chunks. It’s written in Genesis chapters 37-45; at least the portion I’m suggesting you read.
I can’t tell you why your changes had to happen. I don’t know God’s plan for your life. What I do know is that the changes in our lives – good or bad – have a purpose and shape us to be who we were made to be.
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