Thursday, March 12, 2009

When it's time to change....


John Maxwell once said, “When it comes to change, there are three seasons of timing: People change when they hurt enough they have to, when they learn enough that they want to, and when they receive enough that they are able to.”

As I sit eating my lunch, at a desk that has never looked so clean or so empty at work, I ponder the many changes that are about to take place in my life. I sit, eat, and oddly have that song from the Brady Bunch playing in my head. You know the one. “When it’s time to change..you’ve got to rearrange.” Yes, Peter’s voice is even cracking in the rendition in my mind. Tomorrow is my last day at work. I have been at WDLM Radio for 3.5 years. It amazes me at how when I walk out the door for the last time as an employee, I will walk through the door a different person than I walked in on my first day in 2005. It’s time to change and to rearrange.

In looking at the quote above, I think I would fall in the “learned enough they want to change” group. I have many changes coming. Name change, career change, house change, climate change, becoming a Texan as well as a wife! It seems my identity is completely changing at times. Change definitely tends to give us anxious feelings. The cool thing is that I have learned a lot the past few years, and I am looking at this whole experience in a positive more than anxious way.

One of the biggest things I have learned is that we were created to be defined by who we are through Christ…not by our jobs, family, friends, etc. If you can reach a point where you realize who you are through Christ, the rest in life will fall into place and it gives you a confidence and peace. It becomes clear that who you are is more about the One you are meant to live this life serving.

I have learned enough that I want to change because I have faith in where He leads me, I’ve seen the Lord’s hand in this change, have prayed about it, and know He has an amazing plan in it all. Does that make it easy to say goodbye to friends? Nope. Does that make it easy to live so far from my family that I love so dearly? No way. But it does make it easier and is helping me to make the transitions.

I will leave WDLM on March 13th, 2009. On June 22nd, 2009, I will start a new position for Fishers of Men Ministries based in the Quad Cities. FOM is a wonderful ministry that runs an orphanage in Kenya, Africa. I will be working in an office out of my home on ministry development, fund raising, and leading short term mission trips with them. I will take all that I have learned in my 28 years to this new ministry and begin a new adventure in serving Him and the least of these. I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store!

With only 16 days until our wedding, I am busy packing, attending to details, finishing up work, etc. My stomach still does flips when I think about the next few weeks. A big smile comes to my face when I think about becoming Phil’s wife. I am so blessed to be marrying such an amazing man. He is an answer to many prayers that have been sent above, and I look forward to our future together. It’s hard to believe the big day is almost here and I am feeling blessed, humbled, and very excited.

4 comments:

Melissa said...

Beth,

My thoughts and prayers are with you as you enter into a new season of life. I will miss your cheerful energetic voice at WDLM but I will definitely continue to follow your blog. Your writing always inspirer me.

My God Bless and Keep You in All Things,

Melissa Melvin

Beth said...

Thanks, Melissa!

Anonymous said...

My thoughts and prayers are also with you in this "so exciting" adventure on this "horizontal plane". Your blog is so inspiring that I read it almost daily to see the new insights God has given you. I also married at 28 years of age. I prayed that God would bring my husband to my front door....and guess what? HE DID. I met my husband at my front door.

Phil is soooo handsome!!!! May God richly bless your union. Marriage has such parallel correlations to the Abrahamic Covenant...Devotion, Dedication, Cleaving and "No Other". Those four principles flow over into all areas of my life....

PRAISE GOD FOR HIS GLORIOUS GIFT OF JESUS!!

Until He Shouts!
et (Esther Taylor)

Anonymous said...

You make your future husband so very proud.... I look forward to changing with you and watching 'where the Lord takes you..."

Phil