Out with the Old & In with the New

Moving. I hate moving.

When my parents came to Abilene this past May for graduation, they found that I had only packed up a small box.  They probably could have bopped me. I didn’t want to move.

I am one of those people that likes to nest. I like to get settled in immediately. Have all the things I love surrounding me. The pictures that make me smile. I love being surrounded by books that give or gave me inspiration or guidance. I like to feel at home.  I also like to settle. I like to know that things are going to be as I left them…it’s a security thing I guess.

Moving means making a mess. It means cleaning out. Sometimes you find pictures or items that don’t make you smile. Then you throw them out.  You purge of old things you don’t need. You find things that you now have duplicates of because you couldn’t find the original.  It is truly frustrating to an organized person.

Now, moving in…I love.

You get to make a new space home. You also have to leave space for new memories to be made that will make it more like home later.

I have not been at HPUMC very long. I did move office spaces this week. I went from an open air office/cubical thingy to an office with a door, bookshelves, and a personalized phone number.  Such an upgrade. I don’t have a lot of history at this church like say Tova and Lucy. So I didn’t have a ton of stuff from my cubical to move.  However, I did bring in things like:  notes from old youth groups, books, pictures of family, Rob, Cody, Jana, Leigh, friends, Tusculum Youth Group, Highland Youth Group,  Marlin & Alex in Jamaica, Honduran kids, Plum Street kids, posters made from WTGC…you get the picture. I want to surround myself with reminders of why I am in ministry. When I am frustrated because I have gotten rejected by donors for Swishin’ for Mission, it will be nice to look over and see Marlin & Alex’s faces to remind me why I am doing this.

The weird thing is…I put all this stuff up knowing that in time at least half of it will be taken down, replaced, or added to.  I already have a few items that kids have made me or given me from HPUMC. (Thanks Juls, Abbey, Wendy, Pitcher, & Mac). I am ok with that. It’s part of life.

Do you ever just wake up with a word? From God? On Tuesday morning this week I woke up, and the first thing that popped in my head was, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  This happens to me fairly often. I call it words from the Lord. So I got up looked up Jeremiah 29 to read over the verse.  I think that was exactly what I needed that day.   Especially the “not to harm you” part.  Sometimes you wonder, why am I being treated like this? THAT is when you have to remember that God doesn’t want you to be having those feelings and whatever is causing it– is NOT from God.

Funny thing. I went to work. Ugonna led the youth staff in a Bible study discussion. The whole discussion was based on Jeremiah 29.  I was kind of weirded out. You know those moments you just kind of pause and say, “Ok, God. What’s up? What’s the point in all this?”  So we went on to talk about it. Not everyone in there loves that chapter as much as I do.  I can see how it would be frustrating to some people. I have known what I wanted to do with life and what my goal and purpose was for a loooong time…I mean we are going on almost 9 years. Some people still don’t know what their purpose is and what they want to do with life. Which could def make Jeremiah 29 frustrating. Because I mean, “What’s the plan????”

One thing though. Just like moving into a new house, office, or whatever…you have to get the attitude of ‘out with the old and in with the new.’

Or you are just stuck…wandering in the desert looking for the promised land, in exile. Lo-Debar.

When you have the freedom to let go of the past, let go of your plans, not be in control…THAT is when the new can come in. God can have free rein. Freedom in surrender. In with the new hope (in God), in with the new plans (God’s), in with the potential (to do anything…NOTHING is impossible with Him), in with the new memories, in with the softening of hearts as hard as Pharaoh, in with the same powerful healing virtues that healed lepers that could heal you,…defying gravity.  I have faith in something that is bigger than gravitational pull.

On the real. Let go people. Let go of you.

Out with the old & in with the new.

Purge of your junk. Literally and spiritually. God can clean it up. You just have to be faithful with what you have at the present moment.