Change is part of the definition of life!

So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.
Romans 12:1-2

Change; it is always a challenge. Even good change is disruptive. We develop habits, practices, and routines that work, and doing things differently throws us off.

So today, the second morning of Rebekah’s new “back to work” schedule, I’m catching my breath having woken up at 6:15, walked the dog early while the coffee brewed, served breakfast at 7:15, packed Rebekah’s lunch, and got her on the road with a flask of coffee by 8:00.

I poured myself a fresh mug and took a few moments to walk around the garden. The iris plants are still in bloom, but mostly we’re in a pause between the azalea and the hydrangea. It is that prolonged moment when this part of North Carolina is teetering between spring and summer, and more and more the balance seems to be leaning toward that latter.

As if to affirm Wake Forest’s inexorable move into summer, the air-conditioning in both the house and my car have been on the fritz! Eventually, after a hot and sultry weekend, the Maul-Hall problem was fixed Tuesday morning. Hopefully, later today, I will receive similar good news from the folks at the VW service center.

Yes, it’s about to get hot around here, but change is part of the natural cycle. I can’t just say I love the seasons in North Carolina when it’s fall, winter, and spring! Otherwise we wouldn’t have this amazing display featuring literally millions of new leaves (and they only just getting started); we wouldn’t have the stark beauty of winter, or the dazzling colors of fall. The daffodils, the dogwood, the azalea, the iris – and then the hydrangea and on into the colors that spell summer.

None of this would be ours to enjoy if the natural cycle did not involve significant change, disruption sometimes, and the need for everything – me included – to adapt.

Age, too. I am now sixty-six and my parents are 184 between them. Meanwhile the grandchildren are changing, measurably, day by day. How stagnant life would be without constant redirection, redefinition, recalibration, and reinvention!