Finding Joy in the Midst of Change

It has been 6 weeks since James lost his job. What a crazy 6 weeks it has been. Truly has been a roller coaster of emotions. We are just now starting to see some activity in the job search arena. James had his first interview today and it went very well. We are continuing to seek the Lord for HIS perfect plan for our lives and are waiting expectantly for it!!!

I have come to realize something VERY strange this last week. I am truly glad and very grateful that this all happened. We still don't know the outcome or how long it will take to receive the Lord's answer for James' next position, but I am glad we are walking through this. I never thought I'd be saying that!!!

The positive and wonderful changes I have seen in my husband are just awesome! Instead of becoming less confident because of the situation, he has gained confidence. My shy and quiet husband is becoming more talkative and outgoing. He is stepping up to the plate and stepping out in faith. What joy that brings to my heart.

I hate that it took something like this to get me to press into the Lord more, seeking Him out daily in my quiet times. But that is what has happened. I have never been one to want to pray too much, but now I find myself yearning to pray and talk with the Lord. He is showing me things daily and taking me to a deeper level of understanding as I read His Word and seek Him out. My prayer is that even when this is all settled, my walk with the Lord will not diminish, but increase even more!

The grace and the mercies the Lord has shown us has been incredible. We have been blessed so much by our family and friends (I know I have said this before, but WOW what a blessing you all are to me!). The Lord continues to give us so much grace each day. There is much peace in our home in spite of the turmoil - much more peace and grace than there was before this happened.

This verse has been on my heart the last couple of days:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4
What is really crazy is that I never ever got this verse before. I couldn't understand how trials could be considered pure joy. I also wanted to think that I could have the faith I needed without walking through the trials. I am sure that might be possible for some, but I know for me, my faith has deepened through this time.

There is still a ways to go. My salary and state benefits will be cut starting in September (as I begin my new adventure of teaching at the kid's private school instead of the public school where I had been teaching.) We know God put me there before all this happened and we are confident He is working it out. He doesn't ever work in our time, but HIS time is perfect.

I wrote this blog two days before James lost his job. It is amazing to me how God prepares our hearts for things that are about to happen. Gratefully, we are now embracing the change!

Are you Embracing Change or just Facing it????

Change is in the air....It seems like so many friends are experiencing life-changing events. Some good, some not so good. But change is happening.

With the changes come many different reactions to the change. Our attitudes determine so much of how the change will effect us. I wonder as we experience change are we planting our feet, setting our body and facing the change as one would as they hold on tight in the midst of a wind storm or are we opening our arms up and embracing the change. We choose the attitude that we will have towards the change and that makes all the difference.

Facing the change is fighting against it. Fear, negativity and frustration set in. The "whys" rear their ugly head. Why can't things stay the way they were? Why do I have to change jobs? Why do we have to move? Why do I have to go through this? We're bracing ourselves for a mighty storm and we aren't the least bit happy about it. And as we fight against the change, we get hurt!


Embracing the change is completely different. With the embracing comes excitement. Life is an adventure and we don't know what is around the next bend, but we do know God is in the change. We're on the roller coaster of life, sitting up front as the car makes its assent with our arms raised high, squealing all the way. Sure our stomach flips for a moment and our breath occasionally leaves us, but we are excited to see what is around the next bend.

As we face change, be it good, bad or indifferent, we will face many emotions and that's fine. Being sad, frustrated or even a little scared in the moment the change is occurring is normal. But maintaining an attitude that is sad, frustrated and fearful acts like a layer of icy water that freezes us to the core causing us irreparable damage that keeps us from being able to move forward at all.

Change WILL happen in our lives. As Heraclitus said, "The only thing constant in life is change." How we handle the change and the attitude we adopt in the midst of it all determines where we go from there.

Purposing to Embrace change and not just face it!!!!!

Life is Change, Growth is optional....Choose wisely....Karen Clark

Puzzle Pieces

Have you ever felt like your life is a huge puzzle and it is only as the pieces slowly fit together that you begin to see the plan that God has for your life? When you go through those absolutely horrible times and you can't for the life of you figure out or understand the whys??

Several years ago when I was a young new teacher, I had a horrible teaching experience. Such a horrible experience that it was enough to make me leave the profession and completely cause me to go into one of the few times I have ever experienced any type of depression. I couldn't understand how God could cause me to go through that. He had so DEFINITELY called me to be a teacher. Not having gone to college or having a degree in teaching originally, He made a clear-cut way for me to become a teacher. And I loved it...but then I left it. No amount of reason could cause me to understand why things would become so difficult that I would leave that which I loved to do. Within a month of leaving teaching, I was hired to do recruiting for a local college. Another gal started on the same day as me. We worked together for only three weeks. I enjoyed the job, she did not. But a fast friendship was formed. I worked at that job for almost five years, leaving only to move and get married. Seven years after having left my teaching job for a heartbreaking reason, all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. The friend I had met and worked with for only a few short weeks, was then an HR Director for a local sales firm. She was looking for someone to hire to work part time, from home, doing marketing research. The perfect job for this new mom who didn't want to put her infant daughter in daycare. There was no way I could have understood at the time why I had to walk through something so painful as leaving a career I loved. But God knew. God knew that seven years later I would be a new mom who wanted to stay home and take care of her baby but still needed to earn some money. He knew.

In Romans 8:28 states that God works all things together for good for those who are called according to His good purpose. What an awesome promise! I remember a time about 13 years ago when my apartment was broken into a couple of times. The only things the thieves got were an old computer and printer. Being a single gal, it was terrifying to have had my home broken into and many tears of frustration and fear were shed. Insurance covered the loss and I was able to get a new computer. And this one actually had a dial-up modem! Shocking I know...Twas the way of the world 13 years ago! AOL was in its hey-day!!! Little did I know, that out of that break-in and heart break, the pieces of another puzzle would soon come together as I met my husband through that computer (and this was LONNGGG before Match.com and the like). God knew how to bring us together and He used that break-in for MY good. Even though at the time I absolutely could not see how He could.

What are you dealing with? What heartbreaks are you experiencing that you can't even begin to imagine being turned around for His glory and your benefit?? He will work for us, on our behalf. He will fight for us. He loves us. He is our Daddy!!! And even though you might not be able to see how or why or when it will work out....do know that He promises, not some things, not most things but HE works ALL things together for GOOD!!!!! What an awesome promise! Stand on it, claim it, and watch Him put the pieces of your puzzle together!!!!