Embracing Change: Trusting God’s Plan for New Beginnings

It’s been a while.

Paula and I often remark that we have the itch to write about all that is swirling inside our brains. Much is always swirling around!  And yet. Intentions for greater frequency of blog posts – very good intentions accompanied with great optimism, by the way – somehow remain unfulfilled.  But we give ourselves grace, and we trust that God is working through each of us in different ways in the various seasons of our lives.  And our optimism for more writing to come in the very near future remains unwavering!  

But those itches – the musings that want to burst forth into words on a page – are many.  Sometimes that can make it difficult to decide which itch to scratch when the opportunity and motivation to write come together.  

But today.  Today, I know what I want to write about.  But I don’t want to write about it. 

New Mornings

I recently reread our first joint blog post.  Besides recognizing its obvious need for updating, I reflected with gratitude on how God brought Paula and me together.  From that first post: “Since we both have a love for writing, we realized ‘together was definitely better than ‘alone.’”  What a blessing to work together with a common goal!  More than just writing, so many moments of life are better together. That is very true for Paula and me.    

But our “together” is changing. And some changes are So. Not. Easy. to accept! 

In the next days, Paula and her family are moving many states away from me as God has called them to ministry in a new location.  The changes for Paula are much more numerous and impactful than mine.  I’ll let her share those if and when she desires to do so.  

Much emotion accompanies even the comparatively few and minor changes I must endure.  Goodbyes are never easy.  I haven’t really allowed myself to “go there” yet, trying to ignore the inevitable.  Blissful denial becomes less effective as each day passes, though.  

But goodbyes are hard only because the blessings have been so abundant! God’s good and loving plans allowed our paths to cross in the ways they did.  I thank God for the ten or so years we have both dwelt in this “intersection” of our lives’ paths.  

As our friendship has grown, we have been able to encourage each other in our writing, even if that mostly means boosting each other’s optimism for the writing that WILL happen in time. 

More than that, we have celebrated each other’s joys.  We have hugged one another through tears that won’t cease.  Deep conversations and philosophical ponderings turned minutes into hours.  We discussed sermons, devotions, podcasts, blogs, books, and more and looked into God’s Word together for clarity.  (Truthfully, those conversations may merit much of the “blame” for the lack of productive writing.)

Never to be underestimated is the value of a faithful friend who always points you to Jesus and encourages you in your life of faith!  I am blessed with a few such friends; Paula is one of them, and so the goodbye is hard.  

Friends Forever

But distance does not end friendships, and I am confident that our friendship has a great deal of blessings still to experience together.  We are confident that shared blogging can be done across the miles.  With even greater optimism, we plan to make writing a more consistent pursuit in this next stage of our lives.  We will plan to get together virtually and physically here or there or somewhere in between when we can make it happen. 

As Michael W. Smith’s well-loved song declares,

“And friends are friends forever if the Lord’s the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never ’cause the welcome will not end
Though it’s hard to let you go In the Father’s hands we know
That a lifetime’s not too long to live as friends.”

Christian friendships have the added, incredible benefit of lasting to eternity!

New Mercies Still to Come

The title of our blog and the passage it is based on continue to be incredibly meaningful to us.  We cling to the promises of our faithful God. We trust that when we wake up in the morning, whether in a new home far away or in the same old place but feeling a little lonelier, God’s new mercies will be sufficient to meet all of our needs.  

I know God goes with you, Paula, and I pray for the most incredible blessings for you and your family in your new home!

I’ll just be over here in Minnesota looking for plane tickets.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23