Time whizzes by. I have two more Sundays left at Northern Lights MCC. Thank you to everyone who has invited me to coffee or lunch, or wanted to just chat for a while. In these final couple of weeks, I will be focussing on making sure that the transition goes smoothly and that all my current responsibilities are covered by others in the church or will stop for now. We have a newly elected Board, some Ministry Team leaders have been willing to take on more responsibility and others in the congregation have taken on additional tasks. I am very grateful to everyone who has been willing to ‘step up’ at this time of change. I will not be making any more individual appointments now, in order to focus on the transition.
Many people have told me that they don’t like change. This is rather a broad statement I think. We encounter change on a regular basis, but sometimes we are more in control of it than at other times. We change what we wear, try new food, buy a new car or try a new hairstyle. Often these changes are positive and enjoyable, so we don’t think of them as change. When the government increases the tax allowance, we rarely complain about more money going into our pockets, even though it is a change that is beyond our control. Many of us do associate change with being a bad thing because the change that happens, like tax policy, is often outside of our control. Redundancy or other work related situations, changes in health, relationships that shift or even break down, can all be changes that we feel powerless about. All we can do then is decide what attitude we are going to take towards the change that has been forced upon us.
When Monica died, I was left with a life that I hadn’t chosen and I didn’t want. I was brokenhearted, griefstricken and very angry at God for calling me to serve so far away from my family and friends, only to leave me alone and lonely, as it felt to me at the time. It took a couple of years for me to be finally in a place where I could look at my life and start to make proactive choices about how I wanted to live. I looked at what I was most unhappy with in my life and decided what, if anything, I could do about it. If I couldn’t change it, or was not taking any action to change it, then I decided to stop moaning about it. I couldn’t, or wouldn’t, change some bits of my life, but I could change my attitude to it.
Over the next few months, change at NLMCC will affect you all in different ways. I ask that you are gentle with each other. Assume that people are doing their best. Mistakes will occasionally happen and some things will not get done. Change can bring loss. It also brings opportunity for growth. And God is with you. All the time.
God bless,
Cecilia
Many people have told me that they don’t like change. This is rather a broad statement I think. We encounter change on a regular basis, but sometimes we are more in control of it than at other times. We change what we wear, try new food, buy a new car or try a new hairstyle. Often these changes are positive and enjoyable, so we don’t think of them as change. When the government increases the tax allowance, we rarely complain about more money going into our pockets, even though it is a change that is beyond our control. Many of us do associate change with being a bad thing because the change that happens, like tax policy, is often outside of our control. Redundancy or other work related situations, changes in health, relationships that shift or even break down, can all be changes that we feel powerless about. All we can do then is decide what attitude we are going to take towards the change that has been forced upon us.
When Monica died, I was left with a life that I hadn’t chosen and I didn’t want. I was brokenhearted, griefstricken and very angry at God for calling me to serve so far away from my family and friends, only to leave me alone and lonely, as it felt to me at the time. It took a couple of years for me to be finally in a place where I could look at my life and start to make proactive choices about how I wanted to live. I looked at what I was most unhappy with in my life and decided what, if anything, I could do about it. If I couldn’t change it, or was not taking any action to change it, then I decided to stop moaning about it. I couldn’t, or wouldn’t, change some bits of my life, but I could change my attitude to it.
Over the next few months, change at NLMCC will affect you all in different ways. I ask that you are gentle with each other. Assume that people are doing their best. Mistakes will occasionally happen and some things will not get done. Change can bring loss. It also brings opportunity for growth. And God is with you. All the time.
God bless,
Cecilia
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