To celebrate dear Katherine's new memoir Any Day a Beautiful Change, I was asked to particpate in chronicling a beautiful change in my world. You can see the whole shebang at her blog of the same title, where there are links to all the glorious posts. If you aren't someone who normally reads memoirs, I urge you to reconsider and will give you a chance to win one soon :) Stay with me, people.
And I am a wee bit late because I had this CAHRAZY idea that I should actually read the book before I write my little tribute. And I did. In one sitting. And because it was on my Kindle I decided to order a real copy, so I could pass it around after I muss it up a bit. It is lovely and real and funny and warm and wise. Because we all struggle and we all rejoice, often at the same time.
It would be too easy to talk about books and the ways reading can be life changing - where we can be soothed and educated in equal measure, comforted and chastened. And if you have followed along here for a little while, you have seen a lot of the changes our family has experienced - homeschool to private school (and potentially back again...), 3 little boys to 3 big boys and a little girl, and the house - oh the house. So with great delight I announce our next beautiful change - OUR NEW HOUSE! And in MAY, no less. (Another reason for the delay - we close on said house today and it would be a real bummer to have this post and not have the actual keys, yes?)
Because there are small changes and big changes, and sometimes a lot of small ones lead to a really big one. In our case, there were big changes that led to bigger changes and an equal measure of joy and struggle with my bad attitude mixed in. You see, it may have appeared that we downsized by choice two years ago, but we didn't really....unless you count choosing before we had no choices left which is no choice at all. When Evie was born, it halted my return to work plan, which coincided a few months later with a blessedly short layoff for the hubs, followed by a new job with a smaller income. This layover gave us time - to regroup, figure out what we wanted, figure out what we needed, then hope we would find it. And we did - just in the nick of time. We are thrilled with our smallerish house (including a bigger yard and circular driveway of my dreams)and look forward to squeezing ourselves into a new space (unlike the squeezing that occurs with jeans straight out of the dryer). And despite being absorbed/obsessed with paint colors and furniture placement, I have not lost sight of the goodness of God in His timing, provision, and care for our family throughout this process. While I may have made most of our time in the rental miserable with my complaining and grumbling, His plan for us has put mine to shame (as always). And here's the thing, even if it hadn't worked out wonderfully, it would not have changed God's character or His goodness. It probably would have continued to change my attitude though, which is usually the way. So hooray for beautiful changes, from painful to joyful...the roller coaster continues.
I'd love to gift you a copy of the book, please share a change (beautiful or otherwise) in the comments. I'll pick a winner after this glorious long weekend. Enjoy it!
The End.
