Change, life, and my brain unwinding

So much in life has been changing. The past year has been full of change.

From one thing to the next.
Some change is harder than other, while some is gladly welcomed.

Sometimes change means growing, though the goodbyes involved can be hard.

Learning to accept. Therein lies the peace.

"In acceptance lieth peace."

I'm a pretty slow learner of this. 

But grateful for a Father who is full of grace.

But accepting what? Change? Yes, but not just the physical.

Accepting the emotions, the waves, myself, my way of thinking...

Through this season, though it can be hard, I've been learning that God is all about grace. He's all about love. He's all about just taking pleasure in us. 

He's not out to get us, to beat us into perfection, to thump us with the Bible.

He's there with open,  loving arms, to pick us up and dust us off when we make mistakes. 

To hold us when we weep, when we laugh, when we walk through life. 

He's there for me, not against me.

But here's the catch, the newbie for me:

He's always for me. Always, as in, not just when I do right, when I do good, when I'm seeking Him.

This life's a journey, and He's there in the ups and downs, mountains and valleys.

My light-bulb moments and my dark moments.

Those moments of doubt? Yes, He's there. 

And He's not judging me, He's actually holding me, keeping me, loving me.

Sunday it was said this way, and it was as if I were the only one in the room at this moment,

"It's okay to not be okay. But its not okay to stay that way."

Bing! It's okay! But don't stay there forever.

He cries when I cry.

How profound.

A heart of wandering isn't wrong. Questions about life, about truth, about God Himself aren't wrong.

Because He created us to ask, seek. He lets us find Him and rest.

He's holding me, and there's nothing I can do to change that

Can a baby hold itself? Neither can I. No matter what I do, I cannot keep myself in Him.

But He is. He's doing all the work.

And all I have to really do is rest.

And one more thing, He's not out to make all Christians the same!
He's not wanting us to all fit into a box, to all do the same thing, act the same way,
talk the same way, dress the same way, believe the same way....
He created each individual so very different from the rest, on purpose.
Look around, the Creator loves creativity. It's so obvious.
Let's learn to embrace it, embrace ourselves, embrace the diversity in others.
Let's not conform to each other, but each individual conform Himself to Jesus.

There's no formula.

I hope you can articulate a little bit of my scattered thoughts here.

And that you can take away some encouragement.

It helps to have a place to just dump thoughts out, 

and maybe sort them out.

Everyone has such a beautiful mind and soul and heart. 

I pray that we each learn to love one another for who each individual is, 

and all our unique differences.