Bel Cambiamento : Beautiful Change

I've been in full on fall mode in my brain for three months now ... (I rush in to things that excite me.) Yesterday as I was driving, I realized that the leaves were JUST NOW beginning to take on dramatic new hues. My heart swelled up like the Grinch's, only mine was never "two sizes too small." (I just googled "how many times too small was the Grinch's heart." So there's that little giggle for your Wednesday.) I wanted to take pictures of everything I saw, but quickly realized that I would not get any work done if I did. The scenery here in Alabama is just gorgeous in the fall. I live in Birmingham and used to work in Cullman and it is a true story that I planned to leave my house thirty minutes earlier than usual all through the fall last year so that I could drive highway 31 north through Hanceville instead of taking I65, just so I could look at trees. (I am the neatest person you will ever meet. And by "neat" I mean "weird." But I'm okay with it and I rock it.) 

Yesterday as I was driving home listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack and finger-tap dancing on the steering wheel, I began thinkin about all this beautiful change. What does this change mean and how is it applicable in our lives? The answer slapped me in the face and I had an "a-ha" moment like I sometimes have while I'm driving (and I pray I can remember it so I can write about it later ... Which most of the time doesn't happen.) 

Change is beautiful. Beautifully painful, at times, but beautiful nonetheless. You see, we love to see the leaves change colors because it means so many things. Changing leaves indicates football is happening, cooler weather is here (or around the corner if you're in the south, or if you're in Alabama ... Cooler weather is here sometimes, except on those rare occassions when summer decides it didn't have enough of a say this year and rears it's nasty head for a day or two here and there. I'm a ginger. We don't do summer.) All this is similar to change that happens in our lives. It's so exciting to feel the change of starting a new school for your little ones, or preparing for college, or starting a new job, or moving to a new home. And just as fall is a brief season, so too is the honeymoon phase of change. 

As we move into these new aspects of our lives and eventually get the ball rolling with all the new happenings in our lives, we are sometimes overwhelmed with questions about why we ever wanted the change or wether or not we can really handle what we've gotten ourselves into. This is my favorite part of the process. You see: leaves fall off of trees to prepare a way for new life. Sometimes our spirits feel as though we are not good enough for the change we've embarked on, or they question the decisions we make because things aren't quite as easy as we once imagined them to be. 

Spring always comes, dear friends. You can stand in the wake of the difficulty that is brought about by the changing seasons in your life because of the hope that is given to you by the Lord that created you. You see, winter serves it's own purpose. Though it may seem barren and cold and exhausting, it's a season of preparation. Winter prepares our world for the new life that the spring weather has to offer. Hang in there, friends. There's new life for you around the corner. 

What I find fascinating about our adoration of fall is that we all know how short lived it truly is. We understand that winter and it's lack of color and frigid temps is imminent, and yet we race into fall like it's more exciting than finding $1000 randomly on the street. I find it so amazing and truly beautiful that we as humans embrace such beautiful change while we know what's coming. Guys, we are a brave people. And we do this in life, too. We take on change full force, KNOWING that it isn't going to be all "sunshine and rainbows." Be proud of that. Stand strong today and know that you're a brave one. 

I feel so strongly about this subject because change is a beautiful thing and I think that we sometimes roll through the seasons mindlessly, not really realizing what is actually taking place in our spirit. God uses change to mold us and to shape us and to teach us. Whatever you're going through right now, I want you to stop in your tracks and just look around. What are you learning? What has God shown you? How has your spirit changed? How will you use all of this in the subsequent processes of the events that will be unavoidable? Allow Him to strengthen your resolve and pray that He forces you to stop and regroup so that you can take it all in and gain His perspective on how to move forward. Involve Him in every aspect of what you're doing. You will be more than amazed at what He shows you.