How do you respond to change? When life changes and gives you new experiences do you respond well? As a mom, I have experienced a lot of changes. I went from college to marriage. We added kids to our life, and with each new child brings a new experience, with changes to your home. We have changed churches a couple times over our 25-year marriage. Extended family has moved in and out of our lives. There have been job changes. Kids have grown up and moved out. Some of our kids have gotten married and added kids of their own. Currently we are dealing with aging parents and health issues. Each time there has been a significant change in my life I have noticed there is a learning curve, and I do not necessarily respond well.

When I became a stay-at-home mom twenty-five years ago, it took me several years before I was confident in my calling and knew my self-worth in Christ. Life is busy and we get distracted. Satan likes to use distraction to keep us stuck where we are. Life will always be full of changes. That is how we grow in Christ. I have learned that as I struggle when those changes happen it is important to rely on Christ. In Ecclesiastes 1:9 It states, “What has been done is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” I may not know what tomorrow holds but God does. He has plans for our lives, plans for welfare and not evil, to give us a future and a hope according to Jeremiah 29:11. We can be confident as we walk out our life when changes happen. Changes do not need to cause us to worry or be fearful. Because we know that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control, according to 2 Timothy.

So, here I am getting ready to go through another change in my life. I graduated numbers three and four of my kids. There is a large age gap between my older four and my younger two. This year as we start our homeschool year I will be only homeschooling my nine-year-old, while hopefully keeping her two-year-old brother captivated, so we can accomplish what we need. I have not been in this situation, only homeschooling a young one, for quite a few years. I could panic and worry about the two I graduated if they are prepared enough, or I could get depressed and think about missed opportunities or memories when my older kids were little, or I could embrace this season of life and enjoy every precious moment with my 4th grader. After all, this is my moment now. This is where God has me in this life pouring into my two littles and teaching them. I can be confident that I do not know what tomorrow brings but God knows, and He will give me everything I need for that moment. As changes enter your life I want to encourage you to embrace the change and trust God. Not all changes are enjoyable, but we can confidently know that God is walking each step with us along the way.

Arkasia Cox
PAACH Board Legislative Liaison