4 Truths that will Help You When Change is Hard
Today’s is the last of the Summer Sizzle Blog Hop Series Posts. I’ll admit, I’m a little sad. This has been so much fun and I’ve loved introducing you to these dear friends.
Today’s post is by my dear friend, Shannon Geurin. She has a story . . . about battle scars from the days when God sustained and transformed her marriage and her heart. She says she is Fiercely His and invited her readers to become battle ready daughters of the King of kings.
She is winsome, funny and an amazing story-teller. You’re going to love her just like I do!
We moved from St. Louis to Kansas City last month, so yes, this post was much needed because change is hard even when it’s good…
4 Truths that will Help You When Change is Hard
I think we can all agree that sometimes change is hard. I’m all about change. I like easy going. Shaking things up a bit. Doing things differently. I could annoyingly go on but you get it.
We made the transition of moving from Oklahoma to Colorado exactly 14 days ago.
It’s been a hectic month. We moved our oldest little into her first year of college at a private christian university in our hometown of Tulsa. 4 days later- me, my husband and youngest little said goodbye to that precious face and tons of other precious faces and left to settle in Colorado.
Although the emotions have been real, seeing life from this vantage point has been a breath of fresh air (literally) and awesome. Using the word “awesome” seems so cliche…but seriously…it’s awesome. There is no way you can drive down the highway every day, see the Rocky Mountains and not know that there is a God.
I’m used to running into change with open arms. But let’s be honest. Sometimes change is hard. And let’s be honest again. Sometimes it’s brutal.
Ever have those awkward moments where you second guess and question if you did the right thing? Even after you’ve received confirmation after confirmation? Ever ask yourself, God did I hear you right?
Yeah?
But I’m not talking about you because really, this post is about me. Because I’ve certainly been questioning a lot lately.
We’ve all second guessed ourselves I guess. Second guessed God. We just need to recognize it and then make the decision to trust Him. It develops our faith and it helps us grow.
I love the song “Inside Out” by Hillsong. “From the inside out Lord my soul cries out..” When we give our hearts to Jesus there is an internal change that happens and it makes it way from the inside out.
[Tweet “Transition changes us from the outside in. #change #transition”]
Going through transition, though, changes us from the outside in. Whether that transition is moving, death, sickness, or loss of something, etc. There’s that an external blow and then it makes its way inside our hearts and can either be positive or negative.
External transition will alter you internally.
It’s important that during change we stay focused and remember what is true in order to have a positive change on the inside.
Truths to remember when change is hard.
The promises of God.
I believe in rainbows. The world has mystified them and made them about unicorns and pots of gold, but in my world they have everything to do with a loving God who keeps His promises!
God used a rainbow as a reminder of His covenant with Noah and I believe it still holds true today.
Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. Genesis 9:16
The meaning of that rainbow was everything to Noah. It was his hope and promise for his future and the future of his family!
It’s not uncommon for Denver to get a 15 minute late afternoon rain. Afterwards, rainbows often appear. There have been two instances after the appearance of a rainbow in which I felt God speaking directly to me about moving to Colorado. It’s been very surreal and, well…just downright cool. The first time was when we drove into Denver and the second time was when we found “the house.” (You know…”the house” that you find when you’ve been looking for a while and you finally find the one.) Which, by the way, we closed on that “house” yesterday. Yay! Anyway, those rainbows reminded me about the hope and future that God has promised my family. It was as if God was saying…all of this is ME. You are in my will!
God is so cool.
During this time of transition I must remember the promises of God. I must fight to remember them.
- He has promised us a hope and a future! Jeremiah 29:11
- He is good and wants good things for us! Genesis 12:2
- He has prepared the way. Ephesians 2:10
- He goes before us! Deuteronomy 31:8
Things usually don’t go as planned- be flexible.
Oh my sweet husband. Let me tell you about him. He is the planner in the family. He keeps us all organized. He has cute preferences and he likes things to go a certain way.
And then there’s me. Fly by the seat of your pants and hope everything works out me.
Bless his heart.
He’s responsible for a mutli-billion dollar sales budget but I bet he’d tell you that being responsible for me and his two girls and helping us navigate our lives are the most challenging effort yet.
Poor guy.
With all of that said, since we’ve gotten settled here, things haven’t gone as planned. We’ve had to regroup. We’ve had to step back and say, ok,..what now?
And ya know what?
That’s okay.
Because things aren’t always going to go as planned and we have to be flexible.
When we’re flexible it allows God to move, because sometimes our ways are not His ways. It’s important that when things don’t go as planned to step back and regroup immediately, and then go on and go forth.
[bctt tweet=”During change be flexible & let God move. #change #transitions” username=”shannongeurin”]
God will send encouragement your way.
My husband had been quiet for most of the evening earlier this week. The lines I call worry had positioned themselves right where they like to be in the middle of his forehead.
“Are you okay?” Yeah.. I’m fine. (I knew he wasn’t fine.)
Just hours before our youngest little told us that she’d like to visit a different school. It wasn’t the fact that she wanted the change, it was the reality of why she wanted the change. To protect her sweet privacy I don’t want to go into details, but she was just having a rough time at the school that we enrolled her in, and that’s what broke our hearts.
The next morning I was sitting on the sofa forcing back the tears. The phone rang and it was an odd number. I don’t know why I answered. I normally wouldn’t have answered…especially if it was a number I recognized, simply because I knew that I would cry and I didn’t want to deal with it.
You get it.
But, it was a number I didn’t recognize. So I answered.
I recognized the voice immediately.
“Whatchya doin?”
Just the sound of my sisters voice made the floodgates open.
With my voice shaking, I told her to hang on and give me a minute.
I put the phone down and just literally sobbed. After about 2 minutes, after I was as composed enough to talk I put the phone back to my ear and my sister began speaking life into me. I don’t know if she realizes how that random phone call impacted me.
I love you so much, sis.
I needed to hear what she had to say and I fully believe that if her name would’ve popped up on my phone, I wouldn’t have answered…not because I didn’t want to talk to my sister, but because I was very emotional and didn’t want to breakdown on the phone with her.
God is so cool.
He sends specific people to encourage us during times of discouragement. Some amazing friends have on-purpose spoken life into me during this time and I’m so grateful. God loves us!
Cling to your spouse during change.
I didn’t know it, but John heard me crying when I was talking to my sister. I knew he was working downstairs in his office, but I didn’t realize he could hear me. After I got off the phone he came upstairs and asked me if I was okay and reached out his arms for me.
It’s so important to cling to your spouse during transitions! Satan loves to try and put a wedge in there when we’re vulnerable, but we have to recognize it and armor up.
We have to remember that we’re on the same team! A marriage is a TEAM!
Shannon is fun-loving and authentic. She loves big and fierce, and at the top of that love list is Jesus, her husband John and her two daughters, Alex and Averee. She’s a woman who has been rescued and restored and knows how to fight. Shannon believes every woman has a calling and she has a passion to see women everywhere rise up into who God has designed them to be. Although a book is in her future, you can currently read her blog and her story at www.shannongeurin.com.
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Blessed by these thoughts Deb and Shannon- change is so hard. I might be facing a big move soon and remembering these hard parts and God’s faithfulness through it was encouraging! You’re so right- He changes from the inside out!
I am so thankful for His faithfulness and continued work on me. It’s so helpful on the days when I feel overwhelmed by change and I’m praying for a fresh perspective. Many blessings!
God still sends rainbows. Some are multicolored but others come in the form of a phone number with no name. Praise God for the unlisted number and the word in due season that was attached.
Thank you Deb for sharing Shannon’s blog. Tears just flowed as I was reading because I have been there and I remember the changes I went thru when I moved from California to Atlanta, Georgia to be near my grandchildren. Thanks again for sharing.