It has started to rain. We even have a little thunder, not thunder like the thunder I heard when I was growing up in Florida, but thunder none the less. Florida or not I suppose I was born for Oregon. I have lived in Florida, California, Nebraska, Arizona, East Texas, West Texas, South Texas, Washington, but Oregon ... what a wonderful place!
This rain comes shortly after the beginning of Fall. You can taste Fall in the air and smell it in the fireplaces. Other than Lake Tahoe there is no where I'd rather live, if only all my family were here.
Like everyone else, no, I suppose somewhere there is someone who doesn't like the seasons, but we do. Lily loves the Spring and I like the Fall because Fall means Winter is close behind. Sorry, I thoroughly enjoy winter. I don't like ice, but I love snow. A modest amount of snow, more than a dusting and less than last year, makes beautiful pines even more beautiful. Sure, I have to get up first, close the window by our bed, and turn on the heater before my bride gets up. So what?
Yes, the seasons, like my gray hair and wrinkles and, never mind, always remind me of change. In Oregon, change is always in the air.
Life sometimes confronts us with the unexpected, no choice change, but usually we are given opportunities to change. The decisions and choices we make affect us deeply, as well as those we love. As I get older and more reflective I often think about the turning points in my life. I would not change any of the mistakes I made before I met Lily, because then I would not have met her, but there are so many things I would change after 7/20/83. So many bad decisions, unkind words, so much selfishness, so much wasted time, and the list goes on.
Of course career has its 'what if's'. We spent one Christmas walking on the beach when we lived in Arroyo Grande. I loved Morro Bay, Solvang and the Farmer's Market in San Luis Obispo. Two of my sons were in Morro Bay High School. They spent their lunch breaks walking on the beach. When the opportunity and the money came to go to Hawaii we turned it down rather than put our dogs in quarantine, but when the opportunity and money came to go to inner city LA ... I took it. We call these career choices. They are motivated by the desire to get ahead and advance one's self up the corporate ladder. Get ahead of what, who? Of course if I had had any intelligence at all we would have stayed where we were.
On the other hand, without that costly decision would we have come to Oregon? Would I have attended George Fox? What about all the nights Lily and I ate popcorn and watched and screamed over the Blazers? Lily would not have seen her first whale at Depot Bay. Think of the bowls of clam chowder we ate at Moe's that someone else would have eaten if we had not been here. What about the snow angel Lily made in the back yard last year for our granddaughter Autumn? All of my silly, but pleasurable, dreams of owning the Lookout gift shop near Otter Crest would never have been dreamed. My oldest son came here to live with us. If we had not been here he never would have met Misti, his bride to be.
There are other, even more serious seasons when we hear the call to change; maybe a job, location, return to school, a halt to harmful behavior or a call to leave an abusive relationship or lifestyle. These are life changing, but what I think about is the call itself. Have you wondered where it comes from? What a fascinating subject to research. Think of all the people who suddenly changed. Don't you wonder why? What changed inside them?
Change is all around us so why shouldn't we expect the 'possibility' for change to be within us? Are we afraid of change? Are things going so splendidly the last thing we want is change? Maybe we don't even know it's time to make a change?
What happened to make Josiah so determined to change his culture? Do you think there was something working in Becket's heart before his friend and king made him the Archbishop of Canterbury?
Scripture makes it clear why the Apostle Paul changed, but I believe everyone at one time or another is also confronted with the reality, yes, reality of Jesus Christ. It is a heart thing that cannot be grasped with the intellect, measured by technology, or recognized by others. It is intimate and precious, but it cuts us like a razor. It demands a change in thinking and a change in lifestyle. It is both sweet and caustic. It is simply our way or God's way. It is much easier to deny it, dismiss it, laugh at it, or nail it to a tree, but I believe that opportunity for change confronts us all, at least once. It is nothing to be argued about since the choice to choose is a gift from God. We should honor one another's choice.
We can't change the past and maybe that is good. If we could we'd probably make things worse. We can't change our mistakes and we can't take back the words we wish we'd never said, but we can learn and we can change. That change starts with repentance.
Often God will redeem our foolishness. Maybe God will even give us the opportunity to be an influence for change in someone else. Understand, however, we are only like the rain, which has stopped by the way. We may be able to bring a refreshing, but the change I am talking about starts with God.
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