Change: Friend or Enemy?

Posted on by Michele Morin

For me, it was a case of the right book at the right time when Girl Meets Change by Kristen Strong showed up in my mailbox.  I am walking through a season of boys coming and boys going; setting the table each night with only four plates . . . or hearing that we may possibly need nine plates; adjusting to my mother’s presence in our home — and then adjusting to her absence after her transition to the nursing home.

I’ve always thought that I was a flexible person, and if I had been asked (and I wasn’t), I would have said that change is a good thing — healthy, invigorating.  I realize, of course, now that I was thinking of change rather narrowly:

  1.  Change that is my idea;
  2.  Change that produces a good outcome — as I would define it.

Kristen offers a more helpful definition:

Change is leaving “the comforts of what is to embrace the potential of what will be.”

She does not offer pat answers or an easy fix.  Nor does she assert that adjustment to change is just something we need to “get over.”  Instead Girl Meets Change is about her own journey of letting go of white-knuckle control of her circumstances and trusting in the all-knowing, sovereign God who orchestrates her life — sometimes with harmonies that were strange to her ears.

She has woven inspirational journeys from her friends’ lives along with deft renderings of the inspired accounts of people like Joseph, Esther, and Naomi who opened their hearts to God’s detours and changed the course of history.

If I’m going to have a change of heart about change, I need to make my home in the rock-solid truth of Scripture — that never changes.

Capture

If you are curious to see how friendly you REALLY are with change, take this fun quiz!  It took it . . .and apparently I still have some work to do.  How about you?

This book was provided by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, in exchange for my review.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four sons, four daughters-in-love, and six adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

25 thoughts on “Change: Friend or Enemy?”

  1. Beautiful! I have heard so much about this book. I am so hopeful to catch it in the bookshop here, whenever that is!
    Blessings to you, Michele

    Liked by 2 people

  2. I really think I need this book!! I keep seeing it everywhere. Change is definitely my “frenemy” according to the quiz! I’m so with you on the fact that change is cool –> so long as it’s my idea!!! (This is probably why my living room furniture arrangement changes often but I can’t fathom the idea of moving again!) Have a blessed day Michele!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this book. I could definitely have a better attitude when it comes to change, so I may have to check it out!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Hi, I found you on Literacy Musing Mondays, and from your title I thought you might be writing about “Girl Meets Change”. I was on Kristen’s launch team for that book, which was a great privilege. The part about Lazarus was my favourite.

    Like

  14. Love this, Michelle! Thank you for sharing from your heart! I read smiling, b/c I also used to say that I loved change, that I was flexible… and somewhere in the middle of too much change and too much stretching, that shifted. Thank you for the encouragement! #livefreeThursday

    Like

  15. I have mixed feelings about change. Sometimes I embrace it wholeheartedly and other times it scares me or frustrates me. I guess it depends on what kind of change it is. I’ve faced a lot of changes this past year and it has caused me to spend more time in prayer because I realize that I need God’s wisdom and comfort to go through them.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. I love your point (above) that change keeps us in prayer mode. I’d like to say that’s true but sometimes change keeps me in “I want to control this” mode, which is really the opposite. I’m going to remind myself that it’s an opportunity for prayer and trust. Thanks for the great book rec!

    Liked by 1 person

  17. There is a lot of insight here. I took the quiz and realized, I have some growing to do as well. 🙂 Thanks for your words! Visiting from #wholemama.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. ooh I got that book too. I found it really challenging at times and I did love her definition of change. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about it. 🙂 I need to write a review for it one of these days too.

    Liked by 1 person

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