Change is in the Midst

In the midst of this season. My blog is based on it. My thoughts dwell on it. My spirit has learned to rejoice in it. To live and BE in the midst of this season. The very season God has placed me in like at no other time in my life. But being a very (VERY!) nostalgic person, I'm prone to wandering into the past, to places of comfort and places of simplicity. And in many ways, I find great blessing in my ability to "time travel" to those wonderful places of the past so easily.

But because I'm so nostalgic, it takes me greater effort to simply be in the midst of this season. I purpose to work at it and God rewards that effort by revealing the many blessings found in the present, even in the midst of great challenge or change.

And things are changing again. It's coming in like the anticipated (but always surprising) first crisp night that subtly sneaks in while summer is still dancing its care-free waltz of lazy days and swimming pools. That crisp night wraps its chill around bare summer arms and you have no other choice but to embrace the reality that change is on the horizon.

And so it comes. It comes in having recently taken down the crib. The crib that welcomed home the baby we weren't sure we'd ever bring home. The crib that welcomed five babies in fact, four whom God chose to permanently graft onto our family tree, one whom we loved and released because we had no choice (and yet there, in the midst of that season, God sent peace to our hearts and assured us that He can always go where we sometimes cannot.)

Change comes too as our oldest heads toward her 11th birthday this year. To put it in contemporary language, our first tween-ager. Didn't see that coming, even though we've had almost eleven years to prepare our hearts for it. But like the crisp breeze that rides in on the end of a summer night, it came just the same.

And change now comes as our youngest,who literally blew in on a breeze when we weren't expecting change at all, is now 3 years old and no longer wanting to ride in the stroller when we take our 2 mile walks in the park. I don't know how his little muscles handle it without becoming tender and sore, but he pedals for all he's worth, TWO MILES mind you, on his Big Wheel.

Last night, as we took a later than usual walk at the park, and as we were nearing the half way point, dh looked up in the sky and said, "Oh no!" The path had been winding through the woods along a river and several ponds, so we had limited view of the sky along the way. As we reached the clearing, dh caught an unobstructed view of the sky, which had grown threatening and very dark (speaking of change!)

We picked up the pace and Brandon pedalled faster. The kids rode their scooters with greater intent. And I told dh it was likely he'd soon be carrying a Big Wheel through driving rain while I carried a scared and crying Brandon (he's not a big fan of storms.) The wind suddenly shifted and intensified as a cold front pressed in, immediately dropping the temperature by what felt like a good 10 degrees. Lightning began in the distance. Thunder too. And debri and dust rose in circles around us, stinging our eyes and causing us to squint intermittently as we continued on.

I walked and waited, walked and waited, knowing that at any time Brandon was going to become frightened and need me to carry him, to comfort him. But (sigh) change is coming once again. Because he never did cry. Never once. In fact, he pedalled happily along, enjoying the coolness of the wind and giggling at having to ride through the woods again in near darkness. And it occurred to me that the cool breeze that brought on the pending storm was in fact a proverbial breeze ushering in change once again.

And so, it comes. I have to wonder how long it will take me to arrive at a full awareness of a new season, like when you finally have to resign to the fact that summer is truly gone. Because until you've done that, you're not ready to embrace the fall and all its unique blessings. Admittedly, I'm not ready for the next season. Or perhaps just not ready to leave this one behind. But as it always does, change comes. And it's up to me to put it in perspective, glass half full, so I don't miss the blessings God wishes to pour out on me in the midst of it. Wish me well. ;)

“But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT)

Toni