Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Things change

My Sunday was lovely. After Sunday School the kids and I headed out of town to a family reunion and we all had a great time. It was wonderful to catch up with cousins and let the kids meet cousins they didn't know they had. It was wonderful.
But Sunday evening I got some very upsetting news. My pastor announced his resignation. He is taking a church about two hours away from here. I am heartbroken at the idea that they'll be leaving. I feel like I'm losing part of my family! (And my babysitter! What will I do without Lauren!?!)
And yet as Casey and I talked and then as I talked to Sherri, my pastor's wife, I can see God's hand in all of this. I know my pastor to be a man of prayer and I have faith that he is following God's plan.
It's so uncomfortable when God changes things, isn't it? I cling so tightly to the idea that I can control our little lives, even picking and choosing the areas that I turn back over to Him. Please Lord, change this and this, but don't change this! Growing up as an army brat, I swore that once I got grown I would settle down and never move! But for all my big plans, things do change. People come and go from our lives. Friends we see several times a week are suddenly "email only." Family dies. People change and make decisions that separate us. Even my precious babies who, right now, consume all my time, will need me less and less as they grow.

The only relationship I can truly rely on is my relationship with God. So why is it the easiest to put off? The easiest to coast along in?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Shannon,

I have written a comment on your blog for a long time but this post I felt so acutely! We moved here almost 1 year ago this summer and yet sometimes I still long for "home" and my relationships there. I haven't made one friend and have had some serious health issues, such as a stroke in Feb. However, in spite of all these, I have known that it was God's will for us to move here and clung to that! If I can say one thing about our move to GA I will say that I have had to learn to lean hard on God because he doesn't change.

Maggie said...

So true.

Shannon said...

He does carry us through some hard times sometimes...times we wish we didn't have to go through. And it's all too easy to forget that He's carrying us. That's always when I get upset or say the wrong thing or make a mistake - when I think I'm doing all this on my own!