Set Your Mind Above

S2 E51 - A Season of Change

July 13, 2022 Season 2 Episode 51
Set Your Mind Above
S2 E51 - A Season of Change
Show Notes Transcript

We are currently undergoing a lot of changes. We are prepping for the new baby, which will of course be the biggest change. The kids are starting to share a room. We sold our small car. We changed auto, home, and health insurance. There is a lot happening over here. New beginnings and endings can be scary, but they are inevitable. Well...Solomon teaches us that there is a time for everything. We must see the blessings both in the beginning and the end of a thing. If we constantly live in the past, we will miss the blessings of the future. This life will always bring change, but one day in a new heavens and earth, we will be unchanging as God himself is unchanging. 

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Hey everybody, and welcome back to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! I’m your host BJ Sipe – I’m a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In this podcast we take everyday, ordinary events and explore how they can teach us extraordinary, eternal truths. I’m so glad that you joined me for this episode. Now, let’s open up our minds, our hearts, and our Bible’s together.  

Have you ever found yourself in a season of change? Where everything seems to be happening all at once, different transitions and adjustments that you & your family are having to make? Maybe they aren’t even a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but when you put them all together it sure feels that way. Well, we are currently in one of those seasons right now in our household. I’ll walk you through all of the different changes that we have taking place now and over the next few weeks. Obviously, our biggest change that we are about to experience is the addition of our third child, Finley Grace, who will be here in September. We are down to our last few months with just Ava & Dane in our home. Pretty soon Kylie and I will be outnumbered – and we’ll have to go from playing man-to-man defense to zone defense with the kids. The addition of Finley will be an adjustment for everyone, but even before she gets here it’s bringing change. This week we ordered twin beds for Ava & Dane, and they will start sharing a room so we can put Finley in her own room as an infant until she’s old enough to share with her sister. That’s going to be a considerable change for the kids who are used to their own space and sleeping alone. Will they keep each other up? Will they fight over dresser space?  There will certainly be a transition period to get them used to it, hence why we are doing it a couple of months before the baby arrives. But that’s just the beginning of our changes. Yesterday, we finally were able to sell our beloved Subaru that we had owned for the past 8 years. We really did so for two reasons: first, so we can pay off some big medical bills we wanted to get out of the way to free up our budget for a third baby, and second so that we can save for another larger family car. While these are good things, it will definitely be a transition going back to having just one car for Kylie and I to share. We’ll need to be much more in tune with each other’s schedules and appointments to make it work, and that will be a challenge sometimes, but worth it in the long run. Speaking of cars, today we also switched our car insurance from Progressive to State Farm. Actually, we bundled home & auto – after taking the Subaru off our policy, I felt like our 6-month premium was way too high for just insuring our Ford Flex. So I got some quotes, and State Farm was able to save us over $300 on our auto premium every 6 months, and over $400 on our annual home insurance premium. So, we made the change. The best part, and I can’t make this up, was the guy who I spoke to over the phone was named Jake. If you don’t get that reference, just look up on YouTube “Jake from State Farm” for a good laugh. And we’re not done yet – speaking of insurance, our health insurance is also changing this month. We had participated in a program through Samaritan Ministries called “Given 10” – however, due to unforeseen circumstances, they are closing down that program at the end of this month. Luckily, we aren’t left high and dry with a baby on the way – we are being moved into another one of their programs. It will be a big change, but…maternity is covered 100%, and that’s all that matters. Needless to say, I didn’t get to sleep quickly last night as I was going through all of these changes and more in my mind. Change is hard, but it’s also inevitable & sometimes necessary. 

Change is the name of the game. We live in a world that is ever changing, and even as individuals we are always changing too. Time has its way with all things. Sometimes we fight it because we don’t want things to change. We are comfortable where we are, and the idea of that being jeopardized causes great anxiety. But Solomon has some wisdom to share with us about this, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, “There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing; a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to be silent and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.” Life is about balance. As Solomon so beautifully explains, there is an appropriate time for everything. There is a time for something to begin, and there is a time for something to come to an end. Both of these things scare us. New beginnings can terrify us because we don’t know what lies ahead. A new job, a new relationship, a new baby that’s on the way. Everything is suddenly about the change, and that can be unsettling. But in the same way, we are perhaps even more so afraid of things coming to an end. A student becomes tearfully reflective as he approaches graduation and saying goodbye to his friends. Parents that enter the empty nester stage can suddenly lose direction, as they cling to the memories of a house full of children.  We prayerfully beg God to spare the life of a grandfather or grandmother that is ailing, because we can’t bear the thought of losing them. But in each of these things, wisdom teaches us that there is an appropriate time for them both. Solomon would go on to write, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning; a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit. Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools. Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” since it is not wise of you to ask this.” (Ecclesiastes 7:8-10) If we are constantly living in the past, we will fail to see the blessings that God is presently bringing into our lives. As a parent, if I am constantly reminiscing on the “good old days”, I will miss out on the other wonderful stages of my child’s life. In a marriage, if I frequently long for the “honeymoon” period we once shared, I will neglect the immense treasure of growing old with the one I love. But most of all, if I cannot come to terms with death, even the death of those that I hold most dear, I will forget the joy that awaits us in our heavenly home. We were never intended to live here forever. We were intended to have a beginning and an end. But for those in Christ, we will be raised to new life, to a place where time is no longer in existence, where we have no beginning and no end. We read in Revelation 21:1-5, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away. Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” One day, things will be as unchanging as God is unchanging. But until then, we must embrace change. We must embrace new beginnings and tearful endings, as we long for the day where we will no longer say hello or goodbye. What a glorious and beautiful day that will be. 

Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode, and I would invite you back every Tuesday for a brand-new episode each week. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for occasional announcements and special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, please if you’re able to be sure to share it with someone else that you think could benefit from it as well. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.