God uses change to change us.
Last Christmas, I had asked my mom for some books. While this may seem like an appropriate request for one's Christmas list, I can assure it is not for me. In fact, I think my mom (and sisters) nearly fell over in complete shock when I put book titles on our annual "Write down what you want for Christmas" extravaganza...which usually means my oldest sister has a pretty good list to go off of, my brother-in-law's list is super specific, and the rest of us just waiver in a lot of "I don't knows."
Anywho, one of the titles I put on my list was Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker and since it was one of three things I actually wrote down on my list...naturally, my mom bought it for me. Earlier this summer, I {finally} opened it and began reading. One of the quickest things to smack me in the head was this..."God uses change to change us." Well, yeah. That makes sense, right? It's such simple statement...yet also very profound. I jotted it down in my notebook only to revisit the idea a couple of months later.
This summer was a lot of things for our family. It was fun, restful, and oh-so-needed. To date, I could say it was one of the best summers I've had with the kids. I'm thankful that God provided me with my dream teaching job while also allowing me to have the summer time to spend with our kiddos. We truly enjoyed settling into our new house and getting out and doing things this summer! Having previously lived in a community we weren't terribly involved in was difficult. While it was only a twenty-minute commute to family, friends, church, school, etc. the time added up. Some weeks, we would be away from home six nights of the week. Church on Sunday. My bible study on Monday. Eric's bible study on Tuesday. Wednesday night children's church. Friday night football game. Saturday night get-together. Honestly, it made for a very busy and stressful school year! And by the time summer rolled around, I kind of curled up into a little ball and wanted to just stay put.
Ironically, this summer was also one of my roughest summers I've had to date. I dealt with a lot of health stuff...things that kind of piggy-backed off the end of my school year. Typically, I've always classified myself as a healthy person. For example, when I finally went to the doctor...and had to fill out mountains of paperwork...I couldn't even write down a family doctor's name for myself. I had to use my OB/GYN because he was the most recent doctor I had been to...mind you our youngest is FOUR! Ha! To sum it up, I don't go to the doctor. If I've been sick (on the rare occasion), I've gone to urgent care. But I think God was urging me to slow down and focus on some self-care. Isn't that a mom's biggest area of concern so many times?! I spent most of June and part of July on steroids and other medications...and I began to feel a little better. I also gave up caffeine which is quite literally a MIRACLE. Don't get me wrong, I've had some caffeine a handful of times since June...but I went cold-turkey. From drinking coffee every day (and sometimes after school), I switched to drinking water. Let me tell ya, only God got me through that type of transition!
This summer was full of change. Both good changes and bad. And as I began back to work today, {and not feeling particularly well again} I am reminded that God has used all of this change to change me. He's refined me. He's molded me. And although I've felt like I've had to cling pretty tightly at times, God has remained the same. UNchanged. He's caused me to rely on Him for my strength. And isn't that the focus of His change in our lives? To shift our focus to Him? God has certainly used changes in our life to change us. This summer was evident of that...and we are so grateful for all the ways He is changing us from the inside out. Our lives need to be interrupted. I pray He continues to interrupt our lives as He sees fit...so that we may stay focused on Him through thick and through thin.
This summer was a lot of things for our family. It was fun, restful, and oh-so-needed. To date, I could say it was one of the best summers I've had with the kids. I'm thankful that God provided me with my dream teaching job while also allowing me to have the summer time to spend with our kiddos. We truly enjoyed settling into our new house and getting out and doing things this summer! Having previously lived in a community we weren't terribly involved in was difficult. While it was only a twenty-minute commute to family, friends, church, school, etc. the time added up. Some weeks, we would be away from home six nights of the week. Church on Sunday. My bible study on Monday. Eric's bible study on Tuesday. Wednesday night children's church. Friday night football game. Saturday night get-together. Honestly, it made for a very busy and stressful school year! And by the time summer rolled around, I kind of curled up into a little ball and wanted to just stay put.
Ironically, this summer was also one of my roughest summers I've had to date. I dealt with a lot of health stuff...things that kind of piggy-backed off the end of my school year. Typically, I've always classified myself as a healthy person. For example, when I finally went to the doctor...and had to fill out mountains of paperwork...I couldn't even write down a family doctor's name for myself. I had to use my OB/GYN because he was the most recent doctor I had been to...mind you our youngest is FOUR! Ha! To sum it up, I don't go to the doctor. If I've been sick (on the rare occasion), I've gone to urgent care. But I think God was urging me to slow down and focus on some self-care. Isn't that a mom's biggest area of concern so many times?! I spent most of June and part of July on steroids and other medications...and I began to feel a little better. I also gave up caffeine which is quite literally a MIRACLE. Don't get me wrong, I've had some caffeine a handful of times since June...but I went cold-turkey. From drinking coffee every day (and sometimes after school), I switched to drinking water. Let me tell ya, only God got me through that type of transition!
This summer was full of change. Both good changes and bad. And as I began back to work today, {and not feeling particularly well again} I am reminded that God has used all of this change to change me. He's refined me. He's molded me. And although I've felt like I've had to cling pretty tightly at times, God has remained the same. UNchanged. He's caused me to rely on Him for my strength. And isn't that the focus of His change in our lives? To shift our focus to Him? God has certainly used changes in our life to change us. This summer was evident of that...and we are so grateful for all the ways He is changing us from the inside out. Our lives need to be interrupted. I pray He continues to interrupt our lives as He sees fit...so that we may stay focused on Him through thick and through thin.
