Change Can Be Good

Change.  Some people avoid it at all cost and some people thrive on it.  I think I fall somewhere in the middle.  I love to change the furniture around in my house and the wall colors and the overall decor to suit the seasons.  But I also love familiarity, predictability and stability.  So you can imagine what the last few months have been like.  We have sold our house, bought a new one and said goodbye to the familiar - our life and ministry in Syracuse.  We've uprooted our family and moved to a new city and a new church, a new life really.  I've lived through the ups and downs of the excitement of starting something new but having to say goodbye to what I've known for so long.  I've been looking forward to meeting new friends, but reluctant to leave the current friends - many who have been a large part of my life for years.

When conflicted emotionally, I would remind myself that God is a God of Adventure.  He doesn't necessarily want us to plant ourselves in just one place for a lifetime.  He has the right to move us wherever He likes.  That energizes me.   I like adventure.  I want to go where God is going and be obedient to His call no matter when it comes in life.

Recently I read this:  "The truth is, God uses change to change us.  He doesn't use it to destroy us or to distract us but to coax us to the next level of character, experience, compassion, and destiny.....How will we ever change if everything around us stays the same?  Or what will ever cause us to move on to the next place He has for us if something doesn't happen to change the way we feel about where we are?  God is thoroughly committed to finishing the masterpiece He started in us (Phil. 1:6), and that process means one thing: change."*

I love that!  I can get excited about change if it's going to bring me closer to the destiny God has planned for me. And I can always trust that God is ahead of us leading all the way.  As Scott and I have said quite a bit this last few months, "I'm all in". 

Tomorrow, February 6, I officially begin my new position at First Baptist Church in Johnson City.  I'm excited to see what God has in store for all of us who call this our church.  I picture myself right behind the Lord Jesus with my forehead pressed into His shoulder blades.  I can't really see where we're going, but He can and I'm safe and looking forward to the ride.  Where He leads, I'll follow!

A note to my new ladies at FBJC - won't you come along on the adventure?  I know God has wonderful things in store for us as we begin to get to know one another and engage in studying His Word, praying, growing and serving together to further His Kingdom through women's ministries.  I believe strongly that God has a specific purpose and plan for every woman who names the name of Christ as Savior and I'm looking forward to intentionally discovering what this is for each and every one of us - and then living it to the fullest.  I love this promise:

"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has "prepared" for those who love Him."  1 Corinthians 2:9

I hope you will get involved in activities and allow God to equip you and also use you in the lives of other women as we begin this next season of ministry together.  As we go, stay tuned to the blog here.  I hope that these thoughts will bring you some laughter, an opportunity to get to know me and my family a little better, but most importantly point you to the One I've found to be worth living for and the source of everything good in life.  Here I will share some of the adventures He and I experience together.  You will find that many of these experience happen through what I hear and read from God's Word, the Bible.  The words on those pages are far more inspiring and life-giving than any I could write.  I hope they will encourage you to grow a closer relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ.

And please come in to the office for a visit too.  I'll make you a cup of coffee and we'll share life. 

*So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore