If Nothing Ever Changed, There'd Be No Butterflies

Change. Change is good, change is scary, and change is necessary. This is something, that although it took a considerable amount of time, I have come to embrace it. How boring would life be without a little change every now and then?! Well, speaking from experience, although change  can be painful, it is so worth it. 

I have had a lot of change in my life. Some of it decided by others, some of it decided by myself and some of it was completely uncontrollable. But all of the change had one thing in common: God's plan. I don't know about you, but I am horrible about over thinking, over analyzing, and picking apart every aspect of my life. {And if you think I'm over exaggerating, ask my best friends, as they know this about me all too well.} The thing about over analyzing and trying to plan out every detail of life, is that it is pointless. Completely pointless. Shocking, I know.

 God already has a beautiful life planned for you, a life that will surpass anything that you could have ever imagined. If someone would have told me while I was in high school that I would be moving to Texas for college and then Kansas to intern on the second ranked seedstock ranch in the nation, I don't think I would have believed it. But guess what, I am going to college in Texas and will be moving to Kansas in late August as in intern at Gardiner Angus Ranch, So sometimes, change is exciting! We all get into our comfort zones and don't want to leave, which is completely natural! But, we must keep in mind that in order to get where we want to be in life, in order to grow up, in order to live the life God has waiting for us, we must change. 

We also have to be willing to allow our dreams to change. This can be a hard one to swallow. We are all taught to dream and chase our dreams, which I completely agree with! But sometimes, if you know God is pulling your life in a different direction and He is molding your dreams into something else, LISTEN! It won't be easy, it will be scary and most likely out of your comfort zone, but I promise you it will be worth it. It's okay if you decide to not follow that dream you've had since you were in the first grade. If that's not the life that God has planned for you, then don't feel bad about making that change, be proud of yourself for being brave enough to take that step of faith and taking that step towards something new!

Change with the people in our lives is always a difficult one. Some people come in and out of our lives for reasons we don't quite understand. Some people's presence may be a blessing and other's leaving may be a bigger blessing than their presence ever was. Ya know, the kind that you go ahead and lock the dead bolt behind just to make sure they can't come back; it's okay, we all have a few of those. But no matter how sensitive or insensitive of a person you are, your relationships with others always has a way of striking that one cord that sends either a melody or a horrible screeching sound through your body. And what may have started as something great may end in tears, and what may have started with carelessness and disregard may turn into more happiness than you've felt in a lifetime. It's change that all comes with life. Although it's sometimes painful, scary, or nerve wracking, it will all work out, it is totally worth the risk! God has it all under control, that is if you let him take control. 

So change, although it can be painful, messy, stressful, and scary, the key to getting through it all, is knowing that God has a plan for you that surpasses your greatest imagination. Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't be responsible and take the necessary steps to have the life you wish to have; I'm just saying that God already has an absolutely incredible life planned out for you specifically, so don't be discouraged when He changes your plans. It just means that He has something even greater out there for you. 

So all of that to say, take a chance, make a gamble! Talk to that cute guy you always smile at, introduce yourself to the owner of the company you are so incredibly impressed by, take that girl out on a date that you occasionally flirt with, try a new place to eat, move 1,000 miles away from home, whatever it is, go for it! If you are just trying to muster up the courage to do it, well here ya go! You can do this! If some small town, rancher's daughter from Three Rivers, California can move 1,300 miles away from home, to a city she's only visited once and where she knows absolutely no one, and have the time of her life, you can do whatever it is you have been contemplating! There is always the what if it doesn't work? What if I get denied? What if I feel dumb and get laughed at? Well you know what I think, OH WELL! You gave it your best and that's all you can do. You never know if you don't try! So go for it, take a chance! It may be the best change in your life you've ever made. 

Proverbs 3:5-6