Change can be unexpected, unwanted and hard. Recently I went back to Taylor University, my alma mater, for some meetings. So much change has occurred since my time at the school. This was the place I met and fell in love with my husband Neal. Anxious feelings were mounting.
After a stop at the historic Ivanhoe’s Restaurant for a lunch of the best-ever strawberry shortcake, I headed to the main entrance of campus
.
I drove around to see all the many changes and additions of buildings and landscaping. After parking my car, I walked the old “loop” past Neal’s dorm and into my dorm. Things looked pretty similar except gone is the land phone at the end of each hall that all the girls had to use to place and receive calls! Continuing the loop brought me to the old/new science building where Neal spent many hours.
The Reade Liberal Arts building was next on the loop where most of my classes met and the media center where many of my elementary education projects were assembled. Past the old student union building around to the newly renovated chapel auditorium and student union building which included a Chick-fil-A restaurant. Since when do college campuses have fast-food restaurants? Now I am dating myself!
Before heading back to my car I finished the loop at the dining commons which looked the same from the outside.
I recalled many fond memories from my Taylor days, many with Neal. Memories included walking hand in hand with Neal around the loop to classes and meals, and the place of our first kiss. I found myself smiling most of the day!
The campus is vastly different since our years there. These changes are a sign of progress and growth, while maintaining the core mission of who Taylor is. My life has greatly changed since my days at Taylor, not what I had envisioned. I thought upon graduation I would marry Neal and grow old with him, teach school, become a mother and grandmother. We would go on mission trips; possibly in retirement go into full-time mission work. Some of those things have happened but I never thought about life being difficult. We all have our difficult stories. Thinking about the future at Taylor did not include a difficult adoption, an employee stealing thousands of dollars, having breast cancer, spending hours at a counselor’s office, starting a church, not teaching full time, taking a different career path, Neal getting non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma and dying, and so on…
Life can take us down a different path than we imagined but it can be good. We tend to fear and become anxious about change because we do not feel in control of life. It takes us out of our comfort zone.
There is one who does not change – God. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8). He guides us in the way we should go (Psalms 32:8). The Lord himself will lead us and be with us. He will not fail us or abandon us (Deut. 31:8; Josh. 1:9).
This journey is not one I envisioned. The changes in my life have not been easy and definitely out of my comfort zone. How we respond to what life throws at us is our choice. We can become bitter, angry and feel miserable all the time. Or we can choose to accept these changes and learn from them. The changes in my life have brought growth in ways I could not imagine. I have experienced a deeper love for God and His peace and comfort. I have done things I never thought I could do, like install a garbage disposal or corral cattle!
How will you choose to respond to change?
On the journey,
Trish
Thank you for these words of encouragement.