My How Things Have Changed

I've been thinking a lot lately about how much my life has changed over the last few years.  I am 24 years old and looking back even three years ago, my life is drastically different now.  It's neither better nor worse, just different.  

I used to be a night owl, staying up until 2 AM on a normal night and not getting up until at least 10.  Now I go to bed at 10.

My Saturday night used to be filled with friends and fun events.  Now, a normal Saturday night consists of dinner with the hubs, pajamas by 8:00, movie on the couch and I typically don't complain about it.

 

I used to have lots of girlfriends and girl's night was a common occurrence, which I sometimes miss.  Now, I cherish the time I have with just my husband and we rarely have company.

I used to be able to eat whatever I want and not have to worry about it.  Now, I am counting calories and painstakingly working out 4 times a week.  I quiver at the thought of summer and bikinis.

 

My only responsibilities were schoolwork and having fun.  Now, I own a house, have a job, have pets, etc.etc.

Even though life is different, life is still beautiful.  Yes, it may not be a wild and crazy weekend, but it's spent with the ones I love.  It may be stressful at times and adulthood is daunting, but it grows you as a person.  The journey is still exciting and what lies ahead we don't always know or expect, but we are always changing.  Embracing the change makes the difference.  Will it be beautiful or will it be unwelcomed?  I choose to welcome it.

 

Provision

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

I am coming to a time of transition in my life.  I will be graduating from my master's program in a little less than three weeks.  Being a natural born planner, a bit of a control freak, and a semi Type A personality (at least I'm honest about it)  :)  I have a tendency to get stressed out when I don't know what the next step is.  All I have ever known is going to school.  Getting up, putting in my time in the classroom and internships, and writing countless research papers.  Now that I will finally have a degree that allows me to enter the "real world" I have to face the future.  The only problem is, the future is uncertain right now.  I have been wishing for the day to come when school would be over, but now that it's here, I am freaking out.  Change is not easy and adaptation can be our enemy.  

Being a school counselor in a tight economy is not necessarily a great recipe for job hunting.  People keep telling me to be patient, that things will open up over the summer.  I want to believe them, but patience isn't always a strong point for me.  I am trying my best to trust in the Lord's plan for me.  I know the Lord will provide in His time in His way.  My favorite verse in the Bible is Philippians 4:6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.   I pray for the Lord to allow me to give up my worries to Him.  I pray that He will open a door for me to be able to do what I love, to be able to contribute financially to my family, and to be able to glorify Him through it all.  Yes, it may be stressful and it is uncertain, but the reward will be great.  God's provision is inevitable, we just have to trust and believe in it.

Packing

Tomorrow is the big day, we close on our first house.  We have been packing up our first home together, our apartment, and it is bittersweet.  There have been many memories established within these walls even over the short 7 and a half months we have lived here together.  This is the apartment we came home to after our honeymoon, where we bought our first furniture together, and where we have snuggled up each night since.  Packing is exciting but overwhelming at the same time.  Currently our apartment looks like a bomb went off and I am fighting my urge to clean and organize.  It makes you look forward to the future and remember the days you are leaving behind.  Tomorrow we will be homeowners and we look forward to creating many, many more memories together in our new home.  

Charleigh's ready to go

Ebb and Flow

Change.  It's hard to accept but easy to anticipate.  Recently a lot has changed in my life, especially in social circles and in expectations.  People come and go.  They lift you up and let you down.  The ebb and flow of life strikes and what you once had and relied on changes in an instant.  The people you could once count on are no longer fulfilling that expectation.  They move on and move out.  I am the type of person who pours myself into others, finding my worth in my relationships and I frequently find myself on the losing end.  I find that I give so much of myself in relationships that it is not so easily reciprocated.  

I've had to learn to embrace the change in life.  The times that throw you outside of your comfort zone and make you reach for something new, something more.  I heard one time in a counseling class, "If you aren't out of your comfort zone then you aren't growing".  This stuck with me.  I need to be uncomfortable for a time to embrace the new things the Lord has coming for me.  I need to lean hard on the constants in life, like family, Brandon, and my Savior, and moreover learn to embrace the change.  Change equals growth.  I know that God is going to place some incredible people in my life who will stick and who will work for His will in my life.  I want the growing pains that life brings because I know that He makes all things work together for my good.

“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