challenge and change - are you allergic?

you've heard people say that change is good. we've read that we should not back down from challenge... and I am trying to continue my journey toward learning that I am not in control.

yet in these challenging economic times, attitudes seem to tighten.

dreams are sacrificed at the altar of safety, and imagination is replaced by routine.

Believers need to fight this urge. We should embrace challenge and welcome change...

I have friends who have lost their jobs in the past 12 months... and that is hurtful and usually stunning and shocking... one such friend called me yesterday to report that he had been 'let go'... I love his response: "oh well, I know God has something better planned for me..."

I have been let go.... most people have at one time or another been fired.

My brother Greg got me my first job at Tracy Marina... He was their general manager at 18 years old (married for 2 years at the time!), and got a summer job for his 14-years-young kid brother.

I wanted to work hard and do well... but my first job when I was hired involved 'weeding' the vegetable garden of the marina owners. still today, I remain confused about what gardening has to do with working at a marina.... but nonetheless, I went about weeding the garden... and, having no formal weed eradication training, I systematically pulled everything green out of the little 30 x 30 garden plot... when I was done, it was a beautiful 30 x 30 spot of immaculate black dirt.

Dad came and got me in his 1974 Pontiac Station wagon - at the insistence of Mrs Marina Owner - in the middle of the day, and I was officially unemployed at 14... only 6 hours into my first job. I found out later that Mrs Marina Owner had some other very creative (and illegal) ways to punish me for ruining her garden, and was convinced to simply fire me instead. I cried all afternoon... and I still owe my brother for saving his 14 year old brother's life.

I deserved to be fired that day... and, yes, I know this story does not hold a candle to an adult provider losing his means of providing... I get that... and I know that many who are losing their jobs today don't deserve to.

but every year, there are literally hundreds of opportunities to embrace change and accept challenge... and I miss so many of them because of my addiction to routine! I hold onto it like grim death, as if God won't know how to 'handle' anything different than what I have come to know...

I have a dear friend who found out a few years ago he has early onset Parkinson's... not yet 50 years old, he continues to be a pillar of faith and an incredible example to all who know him. He didn't ask for this terrible disease... he didn't want or deserve it. But his walk has become so much more than he could have ever dreamed....

another great friend has a wife who is no longer interested in being married. He is crushed. and so would I be.... I pray everyday that their union can be healed and restored. But it may be that God has something better in store. He was not looking for this tragedy... he was looking forward to celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. But he continues on and seeks God's path for his life, even in the middle of the horrible pain.

God is the God of creative. God is the God of imagination. God is not a lover of routine.

yet we are allergic to change and challenge. we gotta get over that! Pretty cavalier, I know...

but I am convinced that our allergy is growth-stunting and life-sucking and dream-killing. and it robs us of seeing the possible... and enjoying the now.

let us resolve to look for opportunity. let's try to see life's bumps in a bigger way, and embrace what God may have for us to do... even though it's not in our 'plan'.

Blessings!