Changes

Changes, even good changes, are challenging. I remember the change of marrying my first husband, Wayne, in 1971. It was a good change, but it involved working together instead of just thinking of our own selfish needs and wants. I remember the changes of children coming into our lives and later them starting kindergarten and still later going off to college. I further remember grandchildren entering our lives. Many of these changes were wonderful.

Wayne and I experienced the challenges of unemployment at a few different times in our lives. Those were difficult changes and challenges, but through it all we found the Lord to be faithful. Later there was the devastating challenge of Wayne's diagnosis. Each change and step downward in his physical functioning was difficult. Finally losing Wayne to death and then becoming a widow was also a life-changing event. Yet through those difficult years Jesus Christ became very precious to me. My relationship with Him and my reliance on the promises of His Word became more and more wonderful to me. That was a good change. So even in the difficult changes of life, God can bring wonderful changes in us as well.

After eight and a half years of widowhood I remarried in 2019.  My new husband's name is Bob.  This initially was a wonderful change in my life, but it too involved adaptations. It involved laying down my life for my husband and not just thinking about myself. It involved finding a new normal in a new house. It involved putting my former house on the market and a busier life style. And now I am experiencing the challenge of Bob, my second husband, being afflicted with dementia.  Unlike Wayne Bob is in a nursing home tied to Hospice. This is different than home care to the end. Yet it also has its own set of unique and very difficult trials.

Yet through all the past changes good and "bad," God has been good. God has grown me spiritually through them all. He has said that He will use all the changes for His glory and my ultimate good. I have often struggled with the challenges and changes, especially the present ones where it is difficult to see what lies ahead in both the near and distant future. Yet God is sovereign however, and He is with me. I need to rest in that truth.

What are the changes and challenges in your life, dear child of God? Through the difficult changes and through the exciting and wonderful changes, God will be with you step by step. He has promised that in His Word. Lean on Him.