I originally wrote the following post about thirteen years ago. A lot has happened during those years but I still get it, maybe even better now than I did then. Time stands still for no one and perhaps that’s a good thing. The lessons learned were hard-fought, trauma-inducing and life-changing but they led me to the place I am today. There is a lot of peace when facing reality; instead of staying stuck in the past, if you choose God.
This is what I wrote:
I read something thought provoking today from Debbie Macomber’s book, God’s Guest List. I have been served thoughts to chew on regularly as I read. She wrote, “The gift of being challenged and profoundly changed is a gift we often resist with every fiber of our being.” Uh, yeah. I totally get that. I never really thought of it as a gift…more like an opportunity in disguise. I get the resisting part, though I’m not sure why I spend so much energy doing so. It’s where we get to see what we’re made of and where we stand in our beliefs. And that is indeed a gift.
I still get it!
She said a friend once asked her, after having dealt with a particularly challenging time with a child (or two), “Do you think any of this took God by surprise?” Uh, no. I still get that too. Though I don’t understand it, I am resigning myself to the fact that His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. I hope the same for you.
There are many things in my life I would do differently if I had the chance, choices I would re-do if I could. I can’t. So I accept the challenge to allow myself to embrace the gift of change…with a little resistance thrown in for good measure.
I still get it. It’s a process and choosing to let it become a part of who we are.