Taking a break from our rabbit saga to chat about change. Not the stuff jingling in your pant’s pockets, the kind that most people dread.

John Maxwell, a wonderful and inspirational speaker and coach, once said “Most people don’t like change. They revolt against it unless they can clearly see the advantage it brings. For that reason, when good leaders prepare to take action or make changes, they take people through a process to get them ready for it.”

So why the topic of change you ask? Well, let me walk you through some of the changes for our family in 2021.

In January of 2021 Joe changed jobs. Search the internet for “most stressful life events” and every article you find has “changing jobs” in the top 5. Now don’t get me wrong, this was a good thing overall and later in the year we will find out why but at the time it was stressful.

Everyone knows how competitive I am so it probably wasn’t a surprise that in April I also had a job change (had to keep up with Joe, LOL). Only my job change was not voluntary, which increased the stress. I will say that it was not a surprise given the continuous outsourcing and layoffs that had been happening but when you are busy, you just kind of ignore the warning signs and keep your head down working.

I am not one to just sit and relax so although the package was good and I had a long time to find another gig, I immediately started networking and praying about what was next. I’ll write an entire blog on the process but let’s just say for now that going from a corporate job to a business owner in a matter of weeks was a big change and one that I didn’t think I would be dealing with right now.

I head God saying, “Hey, don’t rest yet there is more change coming!.”

Next changes came with the kids. Sam going from middle school to high school and from baseball to soccer. Em moving from elementary to middle school.

First Sam. We worked earlier in the spring on his schedule for high school but seriously, the reality of high school didn’t kick in until the fall. We needed to look up bus routes, confirm scheduling, figure out lunches and more. And to add to it, he decided that he wanted to try out for the high school soccer team and not do baseball.

Side note on baseball. We’ve been watching Sam play baseball since kindergarten when he started in T-ball. We love baseball. I was the score keeper for his baseball teams. We changed teams a few times. New players. New coaches. But it was all great because we love baseball. So when he decided to try out for soccer I went through a mourning period. No more weekend tournaments, no keeping score on Gamechanger, no sunburns, no travel, no practices (can you hear the voice of the narrator in The Christmas Story talking about no more turkey?).

And would he even make the high school soccer team? He also played soccer since kindergarten and even played on a club team but dropped out of club at 6th grade so he could play both baseball and soccer. He continued playing on rec teams but we thought he might not be as good as the other players that were still playing club.

But he proved us wrong! He made the high school soccer team and we are excited to start watching him play in the next few weeks. BTW, he also got certified to be a soccer referee for kids. So proud!

And now for Em. The transition from elementary to middle school. We may not have been ready but she definitely was! She loves it and although it is change, she is an example of how to embrace change. She made new friends in each class. We thought she would play an instrument like many of her other friends and her brother. Honestly we were hoping we could use his trumpet that we paid big $$ for but no, she had to be her own person and do choir. She even tried out for a solo for the first concert and was selected.

Everyone at some time goes through a season of change. Our church is going through change and here are some of the notes that I took from our last gathering.

Change is hard

Believe in who you are – we are equipped

What we are stepping into is not what we thought it would look like

It is not loss, it is gain

The places you’ve been will train you for where you are going

There will be people to help you along

So what type of change are you going through? How will you embrace the next adventure?