It happens every year. When it’s time to switch our closets from jeans to shorts, my son resists. OK, more than resists. He laments! He’s constantly pulling up his jeans, yelling for his short sleeved shirts and basically wondering why we don’t wear the same thing year round.
But what makes this even better is that just a few months before, when we were transitioning from jeans TO shorts, he had the same reaction. He pulled on the bottom of his shorts to make them longer, he yanked at his short sleeves wondering why they weren’t to his wrists. With every seasons’ change, my son balks!
And that’s just clothes! Don’t even get me started on Daylight Savings Time and the why-is-it-dark-when-I’m-going-to-bed drama! (Seriously, why don’t moms band together and demand we get rid of Daylight Savings Time?!)
His resistance to change is kind of comical. It shows how short his memory is and how in the moment 3 year olds are. But it also got me thinking.
I wonder if I am as resistant to change?
Am I constantly tugging on my short sleeves because I think they don’t fit right?
For the first 7 years of my married life, I had a full-time job in church ministry. I was directly over 600+ kids and lots of volunteers and families. After my daughter was born, I quit that job and was soon directly over ONE child. It was a hard transition. I constantly felt like I was doing something not-as-important and maybe even wrong. I mean, doesn’t everyone have a career? A job? A thing they are designed to do?
Surely, mine wasn’t nursing, changing diapers and rocking a tiny baby to sleep. Was it?
This “career” change was a hard one. Looking back, I can see myself tugging at all the edges. They didn’t seem to fit right. They were unfamiliar and uncomfortable. But pretty soon, I started appreciating their new-to-me qualities. Eventually, I couldn’t even remember my former life and it’s attractions. In fact, I felt more at home, at ease and equipped to do my new job of mothering!
Your change might not have to do with your career, per se. But as a mother, you are in constant season change. Your kids grow up, they change schools, your husband gets a new job, a new neighbor moves in, there’s a death in the family, a transition at church–each change has the potential to make you uncomfortable. To stop you in your tracks. You’ll feel out of pocket and even discombobulated. Just hang tight. Don’t tug and pull. Step into the new season. Into it’s newness and unfamiliarity. You’ll soon discover life in your new season. You’ll find out you were made for this season, too.
And one day, you’ll discover that season is gone and a new one is around the corner. But hopefully, this time, you can remember to embrace the new “clothes” and gently fold up the old ones.
What seasonal changes have you been fighting?
originally posted at LifeYourWay.net
