Focusing in the Change Process

10.11.08

Wintergreen, VA

As soon as the weather turns cold, our thoughts turn toward change. The mountains begin to display the glorious colors of fall and we begin to anticipate and wait for the change. We readily make plans to be in the midst of the change so we can see it up close and personal. Now, juxtapose this with our own life change process.

Is there any anticipation of true change?

Is there willingness to wait for "peak" conditions?

Do we position ourselves to embrace change or to prevent it?

We try to prevent it and typically have our feet planted in the ground with much angst, forcefully pushing against change in the opposite direction. Sweating from exertion and hardly able to breathe, we relent and change only because we can no longer resist it. The pain of not changing becomes greater than the pain of keeping things in line with the status quo.

We lean towards not welcoming or anticipating change with the mindset of the beauty it produces. We tend to focus on the pain that's involved in the change process. We lose sight, if we ever had it to begin with, that change roots out things that must go so that new things can come.

It's not quite the glorious change of color that we might otherwise produce in our lives if we went with the flow and rhythym of transformation.

What new things might develop today if we were to allow change a natural path to weave through our lives?

I would love to hear your answer...would you be kind enough to post?

An Unlikely Angel

An Unlikely Angel, written by Ashley Smith with Stacy Mattingly, is Ashley's personal account of being kidnapped and held hostage by Brian Nichols in 2005. Held hostage for seven hours, she was able to talk with her kidnapper about her struggle with drug addiction, her daughter, her story of widowhood, God, The Purpose Driven Life book she was reading, and taking accountability for her actions. She has been hailed as a hero for keeping her composure in crisis and contributing to Brian Nichols surrender and arrest for murder.

Unfortunately, I didn't like the book very much. Several parts were repetitive and reduntant and I found it difficult to finish reading just because of sheer boredom.

With that being said, I try to get at least one good take-away from even the worst of books. And, with that in mind, I was able to grab two good points out of this one.

• God uses imperfect people to accomplish much in this life.
• God doesn't give up on us despite our ability to give up on ourselves.

Rating: 3 out of 10 (don't bother reading)

Any recommendations for my next read?

Choose Well

There was good wisdom doled out by Jillian Michaels last night on The Biggest Loser.

She said, "One of the most powerful tools that you have in this life is the ability to make a choice. You realize that you're empowered when you choose".

Think on that today, friends, and choose well!

I Thought I Was...

I recycle paper, plastic and glass.

I actively look for ways to make my carbon imprint less.

I ask for groceries to be "paper" bagged.

So, imagine the shock of cleaning out my pantry and finding ...

I thought I was a tree hugger.

(said with head hanging down, shuffling feet a bit,
wondering who I really am)

We're Ready

Sometimes change is desired and sought after. And, in the case of our miniature schnauzer family, we've sought change. We're bringing Newton da Vinci home in two weeks and he will bring much change with him.

But, we're ready.

We've prepared for him. We've done the logistics and bought the supplies.

We're ready.

But, with a puppy, we know there are changes coming that we have no way of preparing for. We just brace ourselves for a period of time when there will be puppy whining, biting, chewing, no sleep, constant watch over each move the puppy makes, and not being able to leave the puppy home alone for longer than an hour.

Those are the changes that require flexibility.

Those are the times when vision must look past the immediate circumstance and pain of change into the future at what will be...despite what is.

Change is good.

We're ready.

These are the Days

when preparation doesn't bring perfect plans,

when fear isn't allowed to drive behavior,

when praise echoes no matter the cost.

I believe that God has a plan for me and my family that brings Him glory and honor.

These are the days.

Post-Travel Mania Distress

I'm home sweet home. It feels good. I begin to perch into my favorite spot on the sofa and stretch like a contented cat when all of a sudden...

panic hits!

I'm still on some type of West Coast time so by the time I even get out of bed I'm behind. 3 hours behind.

My internal clock says it's 9am but my real-to-the-moment clock says it's noon already. I look at my iTouch calendar to see how today will roll and

panic hits!

Not only am I slammed jammed with fun today but tomorrow and the next day as well.

How did this happen? Did I really not prepare for a rest before engaging in full on hometown life?

*sigh*

I gotta get moving.