The older I get, the less I like things to change. I will find myself fighting any change at times. But, like everyone who ever lived, I’ve had to learn to prepare myself for change. We can’t stop it. Nothing ever stays the same! I have to say it again, the older I get, the less I like change. Now that I’ve been retired for seven years, I’ve established a routine for daily living, and I get upset when I have to change it to accommodate one of my family members or to adapt to various unforeseen circumstances. There is no escape! Things are going to change whether you like it or not. We have to learn to live with that no matter how uncomfortable it becomes.
Everything changes! One of the songs I enjoyed in the 1960s was “Where are you going?” The first verse went like this:
Where are you going, my little one, little one,
Where are you going, my baby, my own?
Turn around, and you’re two,
Turn around, and you’re four,
Turn around, and you’re a young girl going out of my door.
Turn around, turn around,
Turn around, and you’re a young girl going out of my door.
It’s all a part of growing up, and we can do nothing to stop it. The older I get, the more incredible it becomes for me, and the faster time seems to go. I look forward to spending time with the family. The family comes and the family goes. I remember the first Christmas without my father. It wasn’t the same. I remember the first Christmas without my mother several years later. It wasn’t the same. She was the one to bring the family together. There were no more family get-togethers like there were when she was alive. My sister tried to fill that role, but then she passed away, and there were no more family gatherings like before. Change is very unsettling at times, and it causes one to ponder its purpose. What does it matter anyway? It is here for a moment and then gone. Dust in the wind! Sand through the hour glass of time. Etc. The bottom line for me is that there is something that never changes through it all. Look at these brief verses from God’s Word: Malachi 3:6 (NIV) I, the Lord, do not change! Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV) I have loved you with an everlasting love. Psalm 119:159 (GN) Your (God’s) love never changes. It’s great to meditate on Romans 8:38. The Message translation puts it this way, “…nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, thinkable or unthinkable – absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love…” In the midst of years coming and years going, it’s good to remember one thing never changes. It is God’s Love!