Before and After

I watched a movie today titled Before and After.  It was a story about how your life can change in an instant when something tramatic happens to you. Life as you knew it is no more.  It's something that you can't forsee.  It just happens.  You can never be the same as you were before this incident happened. 

Sometimes an auto accident can be a "before and after" incident, especially if one is seriously hurt.  Sometimes, the incident can happen to someone else, such as a family member (as was the case in this movie), that causes your life to suddenly and drastically change. 
 

I got to thinking about incidents in my life that were “before and after” moments.  I am happy to say I have not had any bad ones.  My philosophy is “change is good.”  I always try to embrace the new that comes to my life.  In some ways I even look forward to it.

 

Now marriage can certainly bring about change.  I’ve had three of them and all were different.  In each I was a different person; young and demure in my first, fearful and dependent in my second, and mature and confident in my third.  Each one helped mold me into the person I am today.

 

Babies for sure change how things are.  Your life is never the same after you start having babies.  Your time is no longer you own and no longer scheduled by you.  Everything revolves around your kids, and that’s okay.  They are your life now and you want to give and do for them everything you didn’t have.

Jobs can certainly change things up.  Sometimes you have to move around to find them, like Rick and I do.  Sometimes you end up doing something completely different from the job you had before.  Sometimes your job takes you to a new town where you can begin anew, like when I moved from Centereach, NY to Kissimmee, FL.  THAT was a huge change.

 

Most of these changes to your life you can see coming, some by a mile away.  Others are a surprise.  The biggest “before and after” moment that I had no idea was coming was the day, the hour and the minute I gave my heart to Jesus Christ—October 31, 1992, 3:15 p.m.  It was a Saturday.

 

On that day God opened my eyes and I saw things in a new way.  On that day I became a child of God.  On that day one minute I was one way and the next minute I was different.  They don't call it Amazing Grace for nothing!

 

My advice would be to prepare as best you can for change.  Be as flexible as a willow so you can flow and go, but also be as sturdy as an oak so you won’t buckle under the pressure that always seems to come when "before" suddenly becomes "after."

Bountiful blessings to you all,

~P