I love fortune cookies. You know, Chinese proverbs and all. Okay fine, I may as well admit that I love Chinese food and the fortune cookies are just something that comes with it. A couple years ago, my fortune cookie told me that "Change is inevitable except for vending machines." I had this little saying taped on my desk for a long time till finally I got tired of it's mockery. I HATE change. Strong statement, yes, but so true.
John C. Maxwell goes deeper with that. He says, "Change is inevitable. Growth is optional." I've got that down pat. That is if growth is equivalent to wanting to pull the covers up over your head and tune the pending changes out. What does growth look like? Growth is acceptance. Trust. Faith. Continuance. For me the hardest part is to accept the change and trust that God's got this all figured out already. Change is not something I can stop. It's going to happen. Change is scary. Unsettling. Uncertainty. Uncontrollable.
I've had some major changes. My dad, not here with us anymore. An extreme change that seems to have started a domino effect of changes. Changes in the business. Changes in the dynamics of the family. Nursing school is another major change in my life. Some days I get all jelly-kneed just thinking about this huge change. All I've ever known is my family business of mulch making. It looks huge to jump from that life into a totally unknown field that couldn't be further from mulch making. To change one's career is, I think, one of the most unsettling changes. The questions snowball. What if....I can't find a job; what if...I fail miserably in school; what if...I make a mistake - this is someone's life in my hands. There's nothing more sobering than that. A mistake in the mulch world wasn't a life or death matter. A mistake in the nursing world could easy be a life or death matter. What if....and on and on I could go with all the uncertainties.
There's times, I will admit, that I fervently wish that I wouldn't feel so called to this field. God's got a habit of calling us out of our comfort zones though. I can't deny the fact that God has called me to this. Otherwise I would have chickened out a long time ago. God gives me promises though that He equips me for what He calls me to.
Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV) And now, may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, all that is pleasing to him.
Isaiah 45:5 (ESV) I am the Lord and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me. Yes, I know God but sometimes I act as though I don't know the fullness of who He is and the impact of His power in my life.
I've applied for a part-time job as nurse aide at our local community hospital. The uncertainty of whether or not I will get the job is unnerving. The uncertainty of whether or not I would qualify if I do get the job....oops, here I go again with the what if mentality.
I just ask you for prayers in this season of my life. And I commit to pray for you in whatever changes you may be facing or find yourself mucking through right now.
Not only is change inevitable but our God is inevitably all-knowing, unchanging, and everywhere present!
As an aside....I also absolutely love the Dove chocolate sayings, well actually the chocolate itself but anyway...I just recently unwrapped this saying from Love, Dove: "You should charge for your great advice." That's displayed prominently on my desk but somehow my family colleagues don't find it near as fitting as I do.
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