For families, September is traditionally a month of change – new grades, new teachers, maybe even new schools for our kids. I’ve come to expect and anticipate this, knowing that after a few weeks of chaos, we’ll eventually settle into a new normal.
This year, however, my regular coping strategies aren’t working. That’s because my family is in a place where EVERY SINGLE THING is changing. Maybe you can relate to one or two of these:
We just moved to a new city and state
We dropped our oldest child off for her freshman year of college nine hours away from home
My baby started kindergarten
My son started high school at a brand new school three times the size of our old one
My husband has a new job and a commute
I’m teaching new classes at a new homeschool co-op
Add to this list all the little things like an unfamiliar grocery store, needing to use the GPS to get everywhere, and not knowing where to get our hair cut, and the whole thing feels like a recipe for disaster.
Over the past days and weeks, I’ve realized that I can’t muster up enough optimism/fortitude/determination to get myself or my family through this. My husband is dealing with the same emotions that I am, and my friends are probably weary of hearing about it. In some ways, I feel like a boat that’s been cut loose from it’s moorings. I’m adrift and grasping frantically for anything solid to hold onto. Case in point – I found myself listening to the Tigers game in the car this week because at least the announcer’s voice was a familiar one.
I’ve needed to remind myself every day that the one thing that hasn’t changed (and never will) is God himself. The promises of his unchanging and everlasting nature are the one thing I can cling to when everything else feels unfamiliar. Consider some of these promises:
- I am the Lord, and I do not change. Malachi 3:6
- Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8
- But you (God) remain the same, and your years will never end. Psalm 102:27
- Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17
So even when it feels like the ground has shifted under my feet, I can take comfort in the fact that the God who called me here hasn’t changed. The unchanging One gives us the gift of change in order to stretch and grow us into the image of His Son. This week I’ll keep my eyes on God, knowing that He is walking beside us and cheering us on in the midst of change.
Blessings,
April Huard
