A Celebration

I'm a creature of habit. A traditionalist. I like the familiar, the comfort found in certain routines. I order the same food at restaurants, I listen to the same CD every year when I decorate the Christmas tree, I've had "creamy chicken pasta" on my birthday basically since I could chew, I've seen "You've Got Mail" more times than I can count, and my favorite books are absolutely falling apart from being read to death. I like having a knowable pattern and rhythm to my days.
However, I keep hitting these pockets of change. And I'm me, so of course, I'm always resistant to it.
But the more I think about it, I think God must purposefully weave change into our lives because it's good for us. Sometimes the change is hard, like selling the house you grew up in, or when a best friend gets married and moves to another state. This is why I'm probably wary of the unfamiliar. It always seems to hold loss.
And I'm in a state of change right now. I had a really hard time at first. But, somehow, someway, I'm finding I'm enjoying it. As I've been thrown into a new season, I'm seeing clearly for the first time just how stagnant parts of my life had become.
Familiar is still good. Nothing wrong with tradition or loyalty or even the comfort of certain routines. But in order for growth, there must be change. Super obvious, I know. I know. But for some reason, it hit home for me this last week.
There have been hard parts of the transition. Yet, the bittersweet aspect of change is just that -- both bitter and yet sweet. Sometimes I guess I need the bitter to bring out the sweet. Like the quiet kid in one of my summer classes who ran back on the last day of class to say "I will miss you, Miss Miller!" If I hadn't been moving on, he might not have said anything and I would have missed out on that lovely moment.
It's so human nature to realize exactly what you have right before you're moving on. All those memories hit me and it becomes even harder to let go. But I've been taking things for granted, and this reminds me not to. I'm also full of hope that the new, upcoming season of life will be an adventure. I'm not done growing and being stretched -- and I was not smart for thinking I was, for becoming too complacent. I need change. I need it just as much as I do the comfort of the familiar.
Think about it. God's built in change all around. The subtle shift of seasons-- the first frost or that first long day of the summer. The key change and crescendo in a song that gives chills. Graduations, marriages, deaths, births.
When you gain something new, you often lose something. But even in the loss, there is hope. For me, there's hope of a new job, a renewed friendship, a chance to explore a new place, living on my own, becoming alive again in certain areas of my life, being placed as a servant in someones life...
I'm realizing some changes are worth celebrating.