Change. It is everywhere it seems. I have been reading about new medical breakthroughs in transplants this week, especially face transplants. The stories are just so interesting, and almost unimaginable how the intricate operations can even happen. A miracle indeed.
Then I take a walk outside down the lane to get the mail, or a stroll to the barn and see changes all around in nature. The colors are popping up all around: in the fields, the road ditches, even in the landscaping where the flowers and plants are changing hues to accommodate the fall season. Tonight I watched a couple young deer scamper across the road and into the green and gold blades of corn. Their swift movement just sparkled in the tall and damp grassy growth.
Even our family is changing, and it seems it has happened quickly, but it has been so subtle over the past few years that we didn’t always notice. How can seven of our fifteen grandchildren now be teenagers? Whew! I don’t feel that much older, but obviously I am. Their ages and smiles and sizes prove it!
In this busy world with so many changes, I must be adaptable. To understand what is going on around me, I must be bendable, not rigid. Strong enough on the inside to adapt to the outside! Adaptable….I like that word. I need to be able to shift gears easily, to be able to appreciate what is going on around me. It makes a lot of sense in our world to have an outlook of flexibility. Life gets pretty frustrating without the ability to let things go and change with the flow.
How many times I have started a day thinking it will be a quiet one. Only to get a phone call from someone needing help, a request from a friend that needs a favor, or just realizing that I have forgotten to finish a job that I had promised myself or someone else that I would do. At those times it is great to be able to have the availability to move forward with the task at hand, or to switch from one direction to another easily and noiselessly.
Adaptability is something I have had to learn over the years. I think God has used the circumstances of my life to make me more pliable. In my early years of marriage with small children or our foster children, I had to be willing to adjust to situations that happened suddenly. In my teaching career unexpected happenings and interrupted plans were more the norm than the unusual. The ability to transition from plan A to B was a necessity. And there usually wasn’t much time to think about it first.
If we let change threaten us, it will make us unhappy. We have to be careful not to let newness frighten us, because that will make us rigid and steal our peace. Change is inherent in life, and if we are going to expand and grow we must change. However, as in most things, there is a balance. We don’t have to be dominated by change, but we need to be free to evaluate it. Then we can either accept it or reject it…our choice, according to its merits.
I hope you have time this week to go out into our beautiful world and experience some of nature’s changes and wonders. Don’t let it happen without you getting to enjoy it!
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