Change

I've been thinking about change. Isn't it often the case that just when you get comfortable with life, something happens to bring about a change? Sometimes this is good, and even exciting... like a move into a new house or a new job. But, sometimes it is devestating... such as a sudden, unexpected loss that takes your breath away and changes your life forever. None of us are immune to those kinds of changes and many times we have no control over whether they happen to us or not. They just happen, and we are left to figure out how to adjust and move on. Most times, change just kind of sneaks up on us, silently altering pieces of our lives in ways that we don't always notice until someone points them out to us. But, no matter how it presents itself to us, change is inevitable.

2008 was a year filled with lots of change for me. Some of it was good and even exciting. Some of it was unexpected and difficult. I would just get my head around one change that was happening in my life and then another one would present itself to me before I could even catch my breath. As I was thinking about all that had occured over the last year, I thought of one of my favorite songs by Rich Mullins called "The Breaks". The lyrics of the chorus are:

"It is the sea that makes the sailor
And the land that shapes the sea
And I do not know yet what I am made of
Or all I may someday be
It is the wood that makes a carpenter
It's the very tools of his trade
And it is the love that makes a lover
And a cross that makes a saint."

This song reminds me that it is often the changes around us that shape and mold us. Change is at the very heart of shaping of who we are becoming. We may not have control over a lot of the change that comes our way, but we do have control over how we respond to that change. We have opportunities in the midst of the waves of change to allow them to shape us in ways that strengthen and increase our capacities to grow. We can allow change to turn us into bitter, defeated people, or we can put one foot in front of the other, breathe in and out, and choose day by day to live the best life we can with what we have. I know that is not always easy, but it definitely is a choice we have. I don't know about anyone else, but I hope I can continue to respond to change in my life this way.