The winds of March are blowing in the Midwest, which usually means that spring will soon be here! Spring brings thoughts of renewal and change! Is it possible that the Winds of Change could bring a new season to your life this March? To do the study,  just click on the link!

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18

Are you frustrated with the progress you’re making in your prayer life? Or just in your spiritual life in general?

You know, I’ve found that being conformed to the image of Christ is rarely a fast process. It often involves times of struggle, pushing ahead, falling back and eventually making slow, steady progress. Sometimes change can happen quickly, but most often, I am in it for the long haul. And at times, it can seem that I’m not making much progress.

A few days ago, I discovered some fun caterpillars in my garden, and I’ve been keeping tabs on them. I discovered they’re Monarch butterfly caterpillars. It’s been exciting watching them. Now, exciting may seem like a oxymoron when used to describe a caterpillar, especially after you look at the short video clip I have of them here. Take a few seconds to look at the video, if you can.

You may think that outwardly nothing exciting was happening at all, but on the contrary, much is going on.

What tips can we learn from my friend the caterpillar to help us in our struggles?

1. Be focused. The caterpillar has one thing in mind—and that’s eating. That is his sole purpose at the moment. What is your focus right now? Identify the change you want or need to make. Do you want to grow or mature in your prayer life? Do you have a fruit of the spirit you need to cultivate? Write it down—make it official. Confess any sin that may be entangled in this change and then ask God to equip you through the Holy Spirit to make the change.
2. Choose your source of nourishment carefully. The Monarch caterpillar loves the milkweed plant as his host plant and will slowly eat his way through the leaves. But, I learned that the Indian hemp dogbane plant resembles the milkweed—it even has a milky substance; one major difference is that it is poisonous to the caterpillars and will kill them if they keep eating the dogbane. Think about what you’re taking in as your source of nourishment during this time of change or struggle in your life. Are you surrounding yourself with scripture, good music, prayer, biblical teaching, books and wise counsel? Or are you feeding on a diet of questionable TV, movies, music and activities that are slowly poisoning you?
3. Be diligent. Just like the caterpillar eats a bite at a time, keep plugging away, doing what you know is right. We can only break a sinful pattern or cultivate a new habit one decision at a time. As Christians, we have the wonderful resource of the Holy Spirit to help us.
4. Look to the inside. Realize when it seems  from all outward appearances that everything has ground to a halt, profound changes are happening on the inside. The Holy Spirit changes us from the inside out into Christ’s image.
5. Rest when you need to. The caterpillar sometimes takes breaks from his eating to just rest. At times, we need to do that too. It’s hard work changing. Do something fun. Read a good book, go for a walk, sit on the beach or take a nap. Recharge yourself for the next phase.
6. Submit to God. When the caterpillar is inside the chrysalis, he is submitted to the creator who is changing Him. We also need to allow God access to all areas of our lives as we are in the chrysalis of change so that He can slough off the dead and replace it with life.
7. Spread your wings. In the fullness of time, dare to fly into what God has for you now.

What  habit have you now attained? Is there a new ministry opening up for you? As you celebrate what God has accomplished in your life, be open to what God has for you next.

As you feel led, leave a comment on a struggle that God has brought you through. Your struggle may encourage someone else to keep on.

Pray on!

One of the constants in my life over the last two years has been change! That may sound a little funny, but I’ve had changes in my job, my health, my calling and my kids. Each one of these things by themselves is enough to shake you up a bit, but when they all happen relatively close together, it really gets your attention!

About two years ago, I decided to stop teaching at the Christian school that I had been at for eight years and decided to pursue my dream of developing a freelance writing career. I had been praying about it for awhile and by the fall of 2008 the timing seemed right, so I made the plunge. It’s been an interesting time of developing clients and finding projects, and I love it, but it did cause me to make some adjustments.

First of all, I’m the type of personality that doesn’t always take to change happily. My identity was tied up in the school and my position there and the people I knew and in my students. Losing all that was harder than I thought it would be. That was compounded by a change in my health at the same time. I began having frequent bouts of vertigo, which often left me sick and not comfortable leaving my house. So I went from a busy, bustling school as my daily routine to a quiet, empty house.

I struggled with discouragement because of being sick, but God had something in mind with all that time I spent resting. At that time He was also putting in my heart a desire to start a blog about prayer. So for that year, I spent a lot of time reading and studying about blogging and podcasting and researching what resources I would need to do all this. It was a tough year, but God was busy laying the groundwork for future plans.

The BIble verse that became my theme for that year was the following:

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” Psalm 37:7a.

Now, I was impatient and just wanted to feel better and get on with things, but I had to learn to WAIT. I had no choice.

During this time, my kids were also going through many changes. My daughter finished college, moved back home for the summer, moved to Argentina for four months and is now back home again starting a job. My son is doing the opposite. He is graduating high school in two months and leaving for a 15 month auto mechanic training program this summer. Kids coming and going, in and out of the house, quiet and chaos. I can sense it’s the end of child rearing and the beginning of new relationships with them.

So, how do we handle all these changes that come into our lives–some from our own decisions, some from Life? It always helps to talk them over with a friend, a spouse,or a parent who has been through it before. I’ve also found that wrestling through them in prayer is the best way for me to handle them. I say wrestling because it ususally is not a quick solution, but a repeated bringing them before the Lord, seeking His will and His solutions and His plans. I like to write this all down in a journal, so I can add any insights the Holy Spirit gives me as I pray through these things. Then as answers start to come, I combine the praying and waiting with action as God shows me what to do.

try journaling your prayers

Over the years, I have learned more of what it means to wait on the Lord when I sense He is calling me to make changes. Mostly I have learned this from my own painful blunders of charging ahead and then having to undo my mistakes because I acted too soon or took on too much and made a mess of things.

What kind of changes is God calling you to make right now? Where are you in the process? LIstening to Him? Not wanting to change the status quo? If you feel like it, share a little bit about your “winds of change.” And, of course, pray on!

Where I live in the Midwest, March is a time of change. The days are often filled with gusty winds ushering in the latest warm front or cold front. I’m never quite sure what the weather will bring from one day to the next. One day I may be outside luxuriating in a sunny, beautiful 65 degree-day, but 24 hours later I may be  scuttling back inside with snow flurries dusting my hair.

Changeable March weather

Maybe you’re at a time in your life right now that is matching the March weather. Perhaps you feel like you’re being buffeted about by opposing forces that you can not control. Whether it’s your job, your health or a relationship that’s causing the upheaval, it’s an unsettling, even scary feeling. Well, fortunately, God does not leave us alone to weather these changes. He has given us a comforter who is, interestingly enough, compared to the wind. Acts 2 introduces the Holy Spirit in this way:  “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting” (v. 2).

The Holy Spirit filled each believer and changed his or her life completely. It was through the Spirit’s power and guidance that the disciples were able to preach and heal and minister to others. And it is through the Spirit’s power that God also wants each one of us to live out our lives as well. If we let God’s Spirit guide us through the “winds of change” seasons in our lives, we can be assured that God will bring us through and grow us through every situation in our lives.

What’s God changing in your life right now? Let’s commit to praying about these changes and seeing how God wants to use them to change us. We’ll talk about this some more in the next post. Until then, pray on!