It's Okay Now

It dropped 30 degrees on my car ride home.
Then the wind began to gust and snow began to drop… like crazy.
I left Dallas in a T-Shirt I arrived in Kansas in my North Face and by Christmas Day, we were snowed in at our house.

When the weather changes, clothing changes.  When seasons of life change… so do people.  And that’s okay.

I’m getting ready to turn 30 (How do you make screaming emoticons? I need one right there…) This birthday has had me reflecting on a lot of things and the biggest is change.

“If you love them, let them go.”

There is something to be said for “holding loosely” seasons of life and even people in each season.  We hold loosely  not because we don’t love those we do life with nor because we want anything to change, but we want to be ready when it’s time to step into the great unknown.  Each dream and each calling on all of our lives will require a change from immaturity to maturity.  Sometimes it’s a 30 degree drop in 2 hours where all the sudden the season is different, and sometimes it’s gradual.

In Relationships, Good Change Can Mean…

• Dynamics in friendships change.
• You don’t see people as much as you used to.
• Schedules begin to naturally conflict.
• Life just looks different because it shifts and adjusts.

…and that’s really, really okay.  In fact it’s good.

For all of us, let’s remember that we want our friends to be prepared for every new season that is awaiting them, even if it doesn’t include us in the same capacity.

For those of you I’ve walked with, I hope that you know that I will do all I can to be your biggest supporter and your greatest cheerleader, because I believe in you and your dreams.  And of course, my ever-ending-never-fading loyal self would love to be your best friend in every season, but maturity tells me that more important than that… I want you to walk in obedience to where God is leading you.

And for me… I go back to Dallas tomorrow… and am hoping that the temperature will take a little ride up another 30 degrees because I’m cold.

As a quick disclaimer, this email is unrelated to any relationship in my life, but is more of reflections on change.

Tweet

I’m not sure about you, but I tend to think on scales.  Go big or go home, right?  If you’re going to do something, make it memorable. If you’re organizing an event, make it as big as possible.  If you’re writing a card, make them cry. If you’re going to change something, change the world. Right?  Or not?

What if true significance is so much less (and actually much, much more) than that?

How do we know if what we are doing is significant?

This question has been one that I have labored over for years and years.  In fact, if you were to ask me how I would know if my life was significant, my answer would have something to do with something big and possibly flashy.

Maybe I was dead wrong.

Significance isn’t usually made in the flashy moments or the romantic moments.  Significance of life is birthed the minute your life was significant to another person’s life.  Arnita Taylor said that a couple months ago, and I haven’t been able to shake it.

My life was changed by…

• The person who listened to me when I lost my job.
• The person who told me what was True when I was afraid of everything.
• The person who opened their home to me when I had nowhere to live.
• The person (people) who spoke the right thing to me at the precise time I needed to hear it.

Those lives have been more significant to me than I could ever express.  Their contributions and love for me in my lowest moments… no one may never touch that place.  They may not be writing bestsellers, speaking to thousands, running corporations or countries, but in my life they have born more significance than any bestselling author will ever dream to.

Like Arnita said, if you’ve had one significant moment than your life has significance.Tweet