Let me confess up front... this blog post is a re-post from my personal blog back in August, but seems to continue to find relevance today, so I thought I would share some thoughts on change...
I am in mourning at Starbucks right now.
For the last year, I have used this quaint neighborhood coffee shop
(let me pretend) as my unofficial office in Cypress while launching our
second campus on Fry Road. From meeting with core team leaders, to
crafting congregational communications, to dreaming of seeing Christ
impact thousands, most of my time has been spent in one particular
chair: Ratty Orange Chair. Let me tell you about Roc.
Roc was missing one armrest, kind of dirty looking, and would not
make it past the threshold of our front door, but we spent many hours
together. Roc gracefully enveloped the contours of my butt and never
complained about when I had eaten at Alicias the night before (although
one time the manager had to say something to me… how am I supposed to
know it was that loud? My headphones were in…). Roc got me in trouble
with one crazy lady who didn’t think my feet should be on the coffee
table, and Roc and I would pretend to be doing other things while
really eavesdropping on other people. We easily logged over 150 hours
together… good times.
Today Roc is gone.
In his place is some sassy little new orange chair… Lets call her
Not Roc. And she has both armrests, is free of communicable diseases,
and no mites or bugs are evident. And my butt hurts. She is all – “look
how firm my cushion is” and “you need to sit up straighter when you
type.” Plain and simple, things are different.
Its not really the chair though, its the change.
Change stinks, but when we are pursing God, change is exactly what
moves us closer to who He is calling us to be. The last 7 days have
been all about change for me…change in my health. change in my diet.
change in my parenting. change in my husbandry. change in my friends.
change in our staff. You name it, and just about any area of life in
which I have been controlling, or comfortable, or disobedient is
experiencing change.
So when change happens, I guess we can do a couple of things…
Most often we resist change. When Will The Barista told
me that Roc was out by the dumpster, I dropped my backpack and went
outside to go put him in my truck. Alas – to my dismay, and Kelly’s
relief- He was gone. What I actually would have done with that chair,
who knows really. Nothing good would have come from getting that chair
back… I just wanted things to be how they were, and was grasping at
whatever I could get that would take me there.
That feels like a pretty dangerous attitude to take when things are
not how they were and are not feeling how they should, but its what we
do. People and organizations tend to grasp at the past when the present
isn’t what it should be. Most often though, God knows that what got us
to where we are, will not take us to where we need to be, and reaching
back keeps us from moving forward.
Proverbs 3:5-6 has been rattling in my head for the last week or so… I even taught from it last Sunday…
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight (NIV)
What we really need to do is trust. If we know we are pursuing
Christ, then change can be embraced and managed. It will not feel
right, might even be painful, but God promises to show us the way,
right? What He has ahead for us is far greater than we could ever
imagine- not to mention so much more than what was.
So as I twist and wiggle and search for the comfort that I once knew
in ratty orange chair, I know that this discomfort is actually exactly
what will make this chair eventually feel right. Farewell old friend,
and hello pretty orange chair… I look forward to the things we will
dream of, lives that will be changed, and Cole’s Crossing gossip that
we will overhear.
Like I said, an older post, but still relevant today. Have a great week!
Pastor Bryan