Change, Lessons, Reflections

The past month and a half has held many changes for me. In the last couple of months I have packed up all of my material possessions and given away/sold most of them, I "moved into" two different friends' homes, my cat has been adopted by another family, I became officially unemployed by Leander ISD, and today I sold my my car that I love. I have learned so much already during this time of change and had many priorities shift. One of the more noteworthy changes is in how much I really appreciate being with other people. I used to enjoy going home after work and hanging out with my cat, reading a book, drinking coffee, and just being alone with occasional times of fellowship with others. Things are so different now! Now I can't stand to be by myself for very long. I cherish times of fellowship and have realized a brand new importance for relationships with others. I've learned that complete security and comfort really can't be found in temporal things. I've learned that living with less is actually quite freeing (is there really a need for half of the stuff we have?) and that getting rid of things isn't as hard as it seems. I've seen the beauty of hospitality displayed in others opening their homes to someone else and making them feel like family. I have also become very acquainted with God as Jehovah-Jira, my Provider, as I rely on Him now for everything in a whole new way.

God has also taught me that times of change bring all kinds of different emotions, and that allowing myself to feel those emotions is ok. There is a grieving process when a chapter of life closes. However, where one door closes, another exciting one opens! Times of faith-stretching are painful and uncomfortable, but the end result is well worth it all. When the Lord shaves something out of our lives, He is making room for something else...maybe it looks nothing like the original, but God knows so much more about what we really need.

Jesus amazes me. He amazes me with His unexplainable, incomprehensible love for His children, even when their hearts are nowhere near completely devoted to Him. Why does He love us so much? Why does He pursue us and long for us to know Him more? What have we done or what could we ever do to deserve His precious, incredible love? I find myself more astounded each day that He could love us so completely and elaborately and desire our hearts above all other things. I pray that each of us would take time out to re-evaluate life's priorities and allow Him to show us in new ways the extravagant life of love and purpose He has for each one of us. Is there really any better way to live?

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