Changes...

I've been processing lots of changes lately...

My sister is getting married in 8 days...I've never spent a Christmas Day without her.  We've always shared the sofa pull-out bed and woken up feeling like someone kicked us in the middle of the back.  Ahh memories...I spent Thanksgiving with Chris's family this year, only the second one I've missed with my family.  And I've been filled with thoughts of changes that this new year will bring.

I cried the other night...I needed to.  Have you ever been there?  Change requires us to grieve what was in order to accept what will be.  Sometimes I grieve the life that I will leave in order to gain life with Chris.  I've caught myself grieving the bond my sister and I had because we were the last singles and we knew how that felt.

This is not a sad post.  Change is change...it is inevitable.  Life happens.  We change.  We move on.  And while change requires us to let go of what we've known, it also gives us hope for the future of what will be.  I'm incredibly excited to see what Bethany's life holds as a married woman who is still my sister and one of my best friends.  I'm overjoyed and feel completely at ease thinking about my future with Chris.  And I'm so blessed by his family and the way they love me and how I seem to perfectly fit in his family.  It's a beautiful thing for which I am truly thankful.

I wonder how Mary and Joseph and their families felt about that change so long ago.  Sure, they had 9 months to ponder things...I wonder if Mary grieved her former life as a single, or as an engaged woman.  I wonder if her parents were a little sad to lose her...but also excited for what lay ahead.  It's life. It's a part of it...to change...and not only to HAVE to, but to invite it...because we know that it's a part of what God calls us to do...to leave the familiar to embrace the unknown...to join God in the mystery that is life as a believer.