Changes

I was talking to my bestie about life, and I said,

‘Our comfort zone is what keeps us from trying new things.’ 

I was like, ‘Woah, that was good. Let me write that down.’

She is going through some changes at work, and I asked her how she handles change. 

Whether she welcomes change with open arms or was like the ostrich who buried her head in the sand? 

Her response was it depends on the change. I feel that and that’s okay. 

These days I am trying to welcome change, but earlier in my life, I ran from change. Change for me was not fun, nor welcome. When my great-grandmother passed away, my Memaw, my grandfather, my cat, my kitten. In my experience, change brings a wave of grief with it. Change to me was pain, even though I am accustomed to pain. That kind of pain was something I ran from. I lived like this for YEARS ignoring the new, the changes. However, this year I am trying to do a better job of welcoming the new, the changes. It’s still difficult sometimes, but I am up for a challenge. 

“If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies.’-Wendy Mass

Do you think it is easy to become a butterfly? I don’t think metamorphosis is anything to laugh at. It takes weeks for a green caterpillar to become a beautiful butterfly. Change can be beautiful. Just look at the butterflies. 

When I was walking through a hard season, I received this piece of encouragement from a friend, 

“Discomfort is necessary for transformation.”

The discomfort I was experiencing was heartbreak. It was awful, but walking on the other side of that I have learned that sometimes we need to be broken for the Potter to put us back together. 

“And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked in into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.”-Jeremiah 18:4 ESV

New blooms

Last month I was at this house and the plants out front were dead. There was no sign of life. My mother, who has a BSA in horticulture told me to keep watering them. Mom took them off the pavement. Plants can’t grow in the heat, Pavement packs in heat. I was here for a week and each day I would give them a drink of water when I remembered. Even with my mindlessness, I saw them start turning green. When I walked back into the house, I noticed blooms on the plants. It filled me with so much happiness. I made that happen. Or was it really me? God is the one who makes things grow I just assisted.

You can take that story and apply it to life.

We can’t grow in a toxic environment. Much like flowers can’t grow on pavement, we can’t grow in places we aren’t supposed to be. Our comfort zones are great things, but if that keeps us somewhere we’re not supposed to be, we won’t grow to who God created us to be.  

We need to be watered with the word of God to bloom into the beautiful creation He created.

New blooms mean a new beginning. I gave those flowers another chance at life and God has another chance for you. Come home, come back to the garden.

New might be my word for this month and I am okay with that.

I went to a new restaurant last night, that didn’t have chicken fingers or fries, I was forced to try something new. I tried the shrimp po’boy, and it was tasty. I went to the grocery store and bought a new flavor of ice cream. It’s cinnamon and it’s fantastic. It’s not always bad to try new things and break out of the ordinary.

“New things are coming.”