change

I have grown to love change. While I see some changes as good and some as bad, I have come to see all changes as beautiful part of God's purposes. It seems to me that God created everything to be in some sort of process of changing. People grow. Leaves fall. Seasons change. The sky is different everytime you look at it. Flowers grow. People move. School ends. Souls are renewed. Hearts are changed.

Last night I was laying on the roof and watching the stars. Half of the sky was star-filled and the other half was a mixture of the moon's bright light and clouds. But the sky changed. The clouds moved. There was incredible lightening. I saw a few shooting stars. I kept thinking about how God really does create everything to be in a process of changes. Our hearts weren't created to be stagnant. They were created with life and purpose and longings and desires for our Lover. We aren't meant to simply go through each day just trying to get through it... we are meant to live intentionally and to change... to become more like Jesus and less like ourselves. To fall more in love with our Father every day. And to bring the Kingdom of God to earth.

The past six months have held more changes for me than I could have imagined. I graduated, left home, moved to a foreign country, led a Christian internship program, loved on some awesome boys at an orphanage in Jaibon, moved to Monte Cristi, started teaching at the English Institute, and started a literacy program. I have experienced life in an intense spiritual community and I have experienced it without one. I have struggled, wrestled, and thirsted for the Lord. I have been taught lessons about love and grace and selflessness and mercy. And I have fallen in love with Jesus all over again.

And all of these life and spiritual changes, have resulted in part from the changes in my physical surroundings. If I had played it safe and chosen the easier road, I would not have learned the lessons I have. I would not have learned to trust God with my whole heart. And my faith would not be as deep and real as it is now.

All that to say, change is good. Change is beautiful. And I think, God's plans for us all include more changes than we can even imagine.

We just have to keep our focus at the cross.