Winds of Change

In my first novel, the main character has six small children when she immigrates from Ireland to Canada. I cannot imagine how hard that must have been. Many, many Irish immigrants took the perilous journey with little ones in tow. And with each child comes lots of challenges and changes each and every day.

I think most of us have a love/hate relationship with change—and life is full of change! We love how the seasons change but often hate how our lives change with it. Just when we settle into a routine or get a handle on something, life seems to turn our world upside down, and we are forced to adjust to it.

As most of you know, I’m anticipating the birth of our fourth granddaughter who will be born in South Africa in a few weeks. I count the days, the hours, the minutes. I pray and dream. And I wait.

This precious new life causes me to ponder how much a child changes everything—in the parents’ and the siblings’ lives, and even in the loved ones around them, like you and me. We are never the same when a new life touches our world. It changes us, if we let it.

For young parents, though, life is full of wonder and beauty. When a baby comes, they have to change and make huge adjustments—their lives are no longer their own; their time is not their own; their bodies are not their own! Their lives are forever changed when a new life enters their world.

But isn’t that true for us as Christians? When Jesus came into our lives, our world was turned upside down. He changed us, and He keeps on changing us (thank God!). Our lives are no longer our own. Our time is no longer our own. Our bodies are no longer our own. Oh, if we could fully grasp this and live in it every day.

I sure want to. How about you? What changes is God bringing into your life? I’d love to know.