Is your blanket in the dryer?

Over a year ago, I wrote a blog "My blanket is in the dryer." At that point in my life, I was writing from Budapest. Almost a year and a half later, the same blog rings true. I've adapted some of this to fit my thoughts today. But upon reflection, most of this is just a recap of where I was 1.5 years ago.

"Change is inevitable, except from vending machines." Unknown

I'd have to agree completely. But growth, on the other hand, is NOT inevitable.

"We do not grow absolutely..... We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially..... We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations." Anais Nin

When I look back at the "layers" of growth in my life I think I've found that most of the time the catalyst WAS change and it was usually change I didn't ask for!

As Marilyn Ferguson once said, "It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear . . . . It's like being between trapezes. It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's nothing to hold on to."

Linus was Charlie Brown's quiet friend who held onto his blue blanket for security. To imagine Linus without a blanket, yeah. You get the picture. Now that would be a growing experience for the little guy! No sucking the thumb, no security.

Periodically, I've found that layers of contemplation and reflection help me sort through change and the concept of growth. Just because things change in your world doesn't mean you will grow from it. Sometimes we're busy trying to live life in the midst of change! But what about growth?

I've been up on top; back down again. The top is where hope, faith, joy, confidence and encouragement were my companions. Back down to the valley again is where fear, doubt, discouragement and pain were stalking me. This life feels much like a roller coaster sometimes and I'm not sure I agreed to get on! It's a roller coaster that I don't think anyone can successfully avoid. There are ebbs and flows in life and the trick is -- don't let it allude you. Grow from it!

Changes in this life - both internal and external, controllable and uncontrollable, expected and unexpected -- until the day of death, are inevitable. Sorry to deflate the perfect world we all wish we lived in!!

You may have nothing to hold onto, but your answer is warming up in the dryer.
Feeling a bit uncovered without the blue pal is understandable.

Anthony J. D'Angelo once said, "Become a student of change. It is the only thing that will remain constant." Somehow I find comfort in this. These words ring true but then there's a greater truth I hold on to.

"Though all things change, I remain eternally the same." God.

It's here that I resolve myself to realize what once was understood to be merely a flat world later became clearly round. I don't see the full picture. I don't hold my own world in my hands. And the place that seems like the end of the road, at least in some of my moments of reflection, may also be the beginning of spectacular things.

As a Christ-follower, when things are unclear and uncertain in the midst of change, I find my confidence in His unchanging character. He will never change in His love for me, His purposes towards me, His desire to see Christ's glory displayed in me. And that's where I thank God that the blanket's in the dryer.