And All of a Sudden -

Change often comes so gradually that we don't even recognize when it happens. It gently rolls over us, marking us in subtle ways, until, like an ancient river viewed hundreds of years later, we are completely different. Then there are those changes that strike like a tsunami, wiping out every trace of the familiar and changing the landscape in such sweeping and monumental ways that we know there is no way back, we are forever altered. One thing that is constant about change (funny that there could be anything constant about change!) - you will face it, you will see it, and it will make you different. There's no fighting it, for even in the fighting, you will be altered. So I was praying for the powerful kind of change to come one night during our youth church. I am the impatient sort. I want so see things happen NOW. I want the job done NOW. I want the progress NOW. But guess what? GOD granted one more night in which the changes were subtle and the river remained calm - moving, flowing, washing, and shaping all under the surface and out of my sight. And yet, I caught a glimpse. Just a fleeting moment of insight where I could see the river's foundation move. It is for that glimpse that I will keep on doing what I do in the lives of our teenagers.

Old Embracing New

This is such a great time for brand new starts, do-overs, and even for reminiscing; doing a mental inventory of things we liked about the past year, things that didn't go so well, things we'd like to change. New Year's Day has a special significance to me this year because we recently moved back to my old hometown after being away for nearly a decade. Our same friends are here, the same church, the same buildings, but in all that familiarity, there is a pervasive sense of the unfamiliar. Buildings are the same, but there are different businesses in them now. The church is the same, with the same goals and purpose, but the dress code has relaxed and the atmosphere is much more open. And my friends, with whom I can chat like no time has passed at all, well they've all been through ten years of life changes and experiences. There have been divorces and marriages, kids and grandkids, heartbreak and celebration. These will change a person. The differences are subtle, but glaring at the same time. It's with these things in my head that I celebrate the birth of 2010. I may be saying farewell to 2009, but it will never be gone. It has made its mark and can't be erased, not from any of us, but we can, while being marked by it, embrace the new year. Like an old woman hugging a child, I can take all of my experiences from the past and cherish the potential in the new, celebrate the hope I see there, and truly welcome the new. I won't mourn what is behind me, I will remember, and in remembering, be much more able to appreciate what comes next.