Finishing Well

     So many times in our lives we have to kind of redefine who we are. Our lives can take on drastic changes we didn't see coming and suddenly we aren't who we thought we were. Or, even things that are expected leave us dazed and wondering what is next.      We were single and then we get married and we have to figure out how to do that. Then perhaps we have children and we're momma, ma, mommy, mother, mom - seemingly forever. But they grow up and then we go back to ?????      Death may come and change everything. Parents die and leave us as orphans. I think of the passage in the Bible that says God puts us in families. A child may die. Your identity as mom is no more. Who are we then? Those families God puts us in are changed - but we can find the orphans of others and begin to minister to them.      A spouse is gone and you are alone again. Starting over, who am I now? Sometimes we fuss and scream about these changes in our lives. But we must allow changes to mold

     Why do we dislike change so much? Comfort seems so much more easy to dwell in. Ease of breath, pain free, just, well.......comfortable.      One day it settles in - a wind blowing the opposite way, ruffling feathers, making waves in our calm sea. Who threw a rock in our water? Why would anything disturb our quietude so? We squirm, we protest, we cry.      However, God doesn't want us to be a stagnant pond of blah. He wants us to open our sails. He wants us to fly! He has winds ready for His exact time to send us to "different".      Do we like it! Not usually. Is it for our growth? Yes. Will everyone we love go with? Nope.      In the Bible wind was sometimes wild and boisterous, but Jesus stilled it, and everyone was amazed. In Acts the wind of God filled the house with Holy Spirit power. In James we're told to ask in faith else we're tossed about.      So, how do we stand in this wind? We must not stand against the wind, but step out in faith and