Saturday, March 22, 2014

Changes, Changes

"You messed up my desk!" Howard complained when he saw a couple of papers out of place after I had sat at his desk to write. For some reason, clutter can be all over the room, but as long as his neat stacks of books, pens aligned in a row, and papers arranged to his satisfaction are undisturbed, my husband is satisfied. He's a neatnik about that, if nothing else.

"Then move that small desk into the other bedroom for my office!" I responded. Two desks had replaced the huge one that used to be there. Surprisingly, he agreed. The problem was that we had both been using my laptop, seemingly just when the other wanted it. But our son gave us a new iPad when we saw him recently, and he inadvertently added to our peace and harmony, since Howard uses it most of the time and we don't have to share the computer. And now I have a private place of my own to mess up!

What took us so long! Of course, a little rearranging was necessary in our small house, but everything that had to be moved looks great in its new home as if it has always been there. Even a little change can make a big difference and give us a brighter outlook!

Our son decided to get the kids out of the house and take them on a nature trail the other day. Maddie, who just celebrated her fifth birthday, wasn't too enthusiastic, especially since they had to drive a way to get there. "Are we still in America?" she chided. "Do the people speak English?" Jamie said when they got there, she peppered the air with complaints. It was too hot, she itched, she was tired, she wanted to go home, apparently not appreciating the wonders of the great outdoors. She was probably imagining playing with all her new toys!

It had rained on the day of her party, so the treasure hunt her daddy had planned had to be held indoors, where the children were a pounding horde rushing up and down the stairs to and from the third-level playroom. The rain didn't slow them down much, as the bounce house became a water attraction.

Though we often want it to stay the same, life is about change. Family dynamics change as children grow up, get married and have families of their own. Dwellings may change or be down-sized as parents become empty-nesters. Technology certainly changes day by day. God is the only one Who doesn't change.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," James 1:16. "For I am the Lord, I change not," Malachi 3:6. Paul writes in Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever." We can count on this constant, though plans may change and we have to adapt. But who knows? When that happens, perhaps God is trying to give us one of those good and perfect gifts!



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