In the past 3 years, my life has undergone a lot of changes.
I hate change.
Change means things aren't the same anymore.
Change means I have to learn something new.
Change means things will be unpredictable.
Change means I might fail.
Change means I'm alive for another day, which I'll take over the alternative! :)
As I've reflected on my life recently, I've realized that some of the biggest changes in my life, that I have fought harder than anything are my biggest blessings.
The plumber. I NEVER thought we'd make it as a couple. Too little in common, too rough around the edges. I had made a number of poor choices in previous relationships - allowed my heart to become attached to someone who didn't feel the same way about me. I also had serious abandonment issues from my young adulthood. I decided to give the plumber a chance - he already knew where I lived, so if he turned out to be a psycho-killer....I was already dead anyway! So, I took a chance on him when he sent me that text message asking if I was seeing anyone, but I had already decided. It wasn't going to work out.
I set my man up to fail. I went through the motions of being in a relationship with him, but didn't let him into my heart. I told my friends it wasn't going to work. I rehearsed break-up talks in my mind....but then he'd say something super sweet or he'd bring my an edible arrangement (yum) and I'd decide to give it another week. He shared his heart with me, but I wouldn't give him mine. He might hurt it, it had already been so broken - the scars were so fresh. Then there was a big structure fire. I forgot to mention....the plumber is also a firefighter. So my firefighter rushes off to do what he does best and I was so worried. I was scared. What if I never got to see him again. People die in fires. That's when I realized - I had given him my heart after all. And after all my putting him off, he hadn't given up on me.
I can't tell you where I first heard this story, but it's a story I love. It's the story of the butterfly's struggle. A man found a butterfly's cocoon and saw there was a small opening. He sat and watched for hours, thinking he'd get to witness the butterfly emerging. The butterfly struggled, though and didn't seem to be able to get itself out of the cocoon. He decided that the butterfly needed his help, so he took his pocket knife and very carefully cut away the cocoon allowing the butterfly to easily free itself. The man noticed that the wings were all shriveled up, but he continued to watch expecting that at any minute the wings would spread and he would be able to watch it's first flight.
The butterfly never flew. The man didn't understand that the struggle of leaving the cocoon was God's way of forcing fluid from the butterfly's body into its wings so it would be able to fly once it escaped it's cocoon.
That's very much how I view change. It's a struggle, but without any struggles we are crippled. We wouldn't gain the strength from failing and pulling ourselves back up again. We wouldn't learn new skills to overcome the obstacles. We'd never have the joy and satisfaction of success. We'd miss the blessings.
So, friends - I ask you. What change are you fighting? What blessing are you denying yourself by fighting? Change is scary, and it can mean hardship, struggle, being let down - but it can lead to so much more.
I hate change.
Change means things aren't the same anymore.
Change means I have to learn something new.
Change means things will be unpredictable.
Change means I might fail.
Change means I'm alive for another day, which I'll take over the alternative! :)
As I've reflected on my life recently, I've realized that some of the biggest changes in my life, that I have fought harder than anything are my biggest blessings.
The plumber. I NEVER thought we'd make it as a couple. Too little in common, too rough around the edges. I had made a number of poor choices in previous relationships - allowed my heart to become attached to someone who didn't feel the same way about me. I also had serious abandonment issues from my young adulthood. I decided to give the plumber a chance - he already knew where I lived, so if he turned out to be a psycho-killer....I was already dead anyway! So, I took a chance on him when he sent me that text message asking if I was seeing anyone, but I had already decided. It wasn't going to work out.
I set my man up to fail. I went through the motions of being in a relationship with him, but didn't let him into my heart. I told my friends it wasn't going to work. I rehearsed break-up talks in my mind....but then he'd say something super sweet or he'd bring my an edible arrangement (yum) and I'd decide to give it another week. He shared his heart with me, but I wouldn't give him mine. He might hurt it, it had already been so broken - the scars were so fresh. Then there was a big structure fire. I forgot to mention....the plumber is also a firefighter. So my firefighter rushes off to do what he does best and I was so worried. I was scared. What if I never got to see him again. People die in fires. That's when I realized - I had given him my heart after all. And after all my putting him off, he hadn't given up on me.
I can't tell you where I first heard this story, but it's a story I love. It's the story of the butterfly's struggle. A man found a butterfly's cocoon and saw there was a small opening. He sat and watched for hours, thinking he'd get to witness the butterfly emerging. The butterfly struggled, though and didn't seem to be able to get itself out of the cocoon. He decided that the butterfly needed his help, so he took his pocket knife and very carefully cut away the cocoon allowing the butterfly to easily free itself. The man noticed that the wings were all shriveled up, but he continued to watch expecting that at any minute the wings would spread and he would be able to watch it's first flight.
The butterfly never flew. The man didn't understand that the struggle of leaving the cocoon was God's way of forcing fluid from the butterfly's body into its wings so it would be able to fly once it escaped it's cocoon.
That's very much how I view change. It's a struggle, but without any struggles we are crippled. We wouldn't gain the strength from failing and pulling ourselves back up again. We wouldn't learn new skills to overcome the obstacles. We'd never have the joy and satisfaction of success. We'd miss the blessings.
So, friends - I ask you. What change are you fighting? What blessing are you denying yourself by fighting? Change is scary, and it can mean hardship, struggle, being let down - but it can lead to so much more.
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