oh life

Life is such a funny thing... constant transition. School begins in the fall and ends in the spring and even though I am not technically apart of the school system anymore, it has caused me to think: maybe that's the only normal part about life - the transition. We've been doing it since we were young but somehow it still feels unnatural. It's safer to just stay where we are, but sometimes there's a limb just a few steps away, waiting for us to take a step out. I can remember being a young girl and completely stressed out about moving from 5th grade to middle school. In my tiny head, nothing could be better than elementary school. How silly that I felt the same way leaving middle school and high school and the worst yet, leaving college. And still change is happening all around me. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it. The good news is that if you're in a rough situation or stage of life, you can rest in the fact that life is constantly changing, but if you are somewhere you love, you must tell yourself to remember that you cannot hold onto that moment forever and to truly live in it because it will be over at some point. It is temporary. Shauna Niequist, author of Cold Tangerines (a book I would highly recommend) quoted a friend of hers saying that on this journey, "everything is interim" (p.206) ... hmmm everything is interim. I think I agree with her. Each path is somehow leading to another path and another and another and another until we leave this earth. Students continue to progress from one grade to the next, seasons bring different moods and emotions to the surface, people get promotions or decide to move or get married or stay home to start a family, goals and dreams develop and adapt, and frequently it is all uncontrollable - like getting older- it is just happening. Life changes as fast as the time it takes to rearrange a bedroom or change your nail polish from hot pink to sea foam green. It is constantly moving, shifting, turning in unexpected ways. Friends come and go, some sticking, but most flowing - and that's how it's supposed to be. We need different people in our lives for different seasons... Is it hard? Absolutely. Is it necessary? Absolutely. We wouldn't be the people we are had our lives stayed the same for years. Sara Groves sings a song called Painting Pictures of Egypt - the chorus is what I'm talking about:
I've been painting pictures of Egypt, leaving out what it lacked,
the future seemed so hard and I wanna go back.
But the places that used to fit me, cannot hold the things I've learned.
Those roads were closed off to me, when my back was turned.

The past that we remember is not always accurate, which is such a beautiful thing - And the future is scary - transitions around every corner. But we can't go back, because now we are older and have grown wiser. And now those places where we belonged are too small. We have outgrown them. And it is a beautiful thing. Without a doubt, the biggest comfort to me in all of this is serving a God who is big on plans. He sees the turns ahead and just asks me to trust who I know Him to be. Oh for the grace to do just that. Anything can happen. Life is scary. Transition is uncomfortable. But God is good. Thank goodness.

Book: Niequist, Shana. Cold Tangerines. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007.
Song: Groves, Sara. Painting Pictures of Egypt.