Our families with school-aged children are really in the thick of grade changes, shifting between old and new friends. The summer break promises to lead to new schools and circles, new adventures and adversities.
It creates a LOT of emotions for parents and children alike. Change does that.
Greater Things is also going through a lot of change. And it is creating LOTS of emotions.
Many of us have made our way through the beautiful book “The Voice of the Heart” by Chip Dodd. It’s given us permission and language and a deeper understanding of how all of our emotions, yes, all of them, are beautiful in the Lord’s hands and can lead us to connections with Him and other people. If we let them.
It’s from this tender place of feeling deep sadness that I give you a small but vital word that the Lord gave me last week. I had to get real quiet with Him and be reminded about His truth.
When change happens, all the foundations get shaken. Relationships rattle around. Hopes and dreams get shifted and sometimes crushed. But as these things happen, God makes room and space to reveal new dreams, better pathways, and more of Him.
As I lamented about the change, Holy Spirit was so kind.
“You have loved people well. Not perfectly but well.
And you have been loved well.
The love you have shared is eternal.”
The Spirit went on to reveal how seasons change, relationships drift into different levels of connection. Our daily rhythms fade as our tasks no longer overlap. The relationships may change or even end for now. But the shared moments of love are eternal. Wow.
The love we share is eternal.
We have often talked about root systems in Greater Things and the Lord brought it back once more. You and I are part of an eternal root system formed by the love of Jesus Christ. It is our great delight to grow into Him and share the journey. Together we experience the growth of living, even the pain and the sorrow.
But the love shared can never be taken away. Like a tree’s growth rings reveal draughts and growth and even fires, our love remains because we are rooted in Jesus.
And He is love. Eternally.