It’s noon. Lunch is ready on plates before us. After saying “Thank You” we lift food to our mouths. Bellies are filling except for one. Her little toddler body is exhausted, eyelids are heavy. She stares into the air.
Suddenly a burst of energy. “No!” Picking up her yogurt and handing it off to me.
Sitting for a minute with nothing she says, “Mo mo!”
She wants the cheese puffs sitting in the middle of the table. Knowing she is close to sleep I give her a few. She eats but her eyelids cannot hold. Nodding her head now she is falling fast. Unable to hold on anymore.
This weekend we began the transition to one nap a day. She has been taking it well however it is still a change, an adjustment her body needs to make.
Change isn’t all that much different for us as adults. It may feel like the right thing to do. We may take the change well nevertheless we still need time. Time to adjust, adapt and fully embrace.
After starting college in a different state I was excited about the opportunity to look for a job. I always wanted to work with children and was ready to find I place where I could do just that. My first weeks at the preschool and daycare were full of excitement. Despite the thrill I felt, it was also a great change. I had never worked with little ones like this before. My previous jobs were in the small rural area I grew up in. I hadn’t had many co-workers. So while I was excited I still had a lot of adjusting to do.
Change can be stressful and exhausting like it is for my toddler daughter however it is not good for us to stay where we are. Whether we are 1.5 or 75 years old we are called to grow, to change as the Lord directs us. Staying put only makes us stale Christians. God wants our hearts. God wants us to be ready. Ready to go. Or ready to stay. Ready to do His will. (from an old hymn Ready to Go by A.C. Palmer)
Are we willing to endure change? Are we ready to get uncomfortable to fulfill God’s call upon our lives?
Luke 9:23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. NLT
Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. ESV
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. ESV
