With a warm heart and a joyful spirit, Cindy reveals Godly principles and heavenly purposes for the circumstances of life. Her honesty before the Lord and in her writings help her readers connect, learn, grow and develop a contagious hope that God will bring good things from astounding situations.
Dana and the New Year
By Cindy Amelung
New Year’s Resolutions – A New Year – More Changes – I can’t wait….
I will confess, up front, that I embrace change about as quickly as a glacier moves. Change is a six letter word that usually means I will once again be leaving my comfort zone and I’m not big on travel. I know it’s a new year – I saw Dick Clark do the countdown for the umpteenth time. Traitor! Why can’t he leave the old year where it is just once?
2006 wasn’t a bad year for me – I liked it. Good things happened. Nothing catastrophic occurred. Okay, one bad thing. I lost my beloved cat companion of ten plus years in January. I missed him for a long time but in June I couldn’t stand it any more. I had to have a fur face to love. I even had the bright idea I would adopt two kittens so they could keep each other company. Next time I have a bright idea like that, please someone, hit me till I come to my senses.
I did indeed adopt two kitten girls, Dana and Gillian, and they now rule the roost. Even as I am typing this, Dana is trying to catch the words on the screen for me. Little nose prints on the monitor are the new status quo.
So here it is, January 2007, and I have to come to grips, once again, with the fact that I don’t really like change. I am spontaneous only if I can plan it first. So what have these kitten girls taught me about change? Let me share a recent incident with Dana.
I was having new blinds and a curtain rod installed. My mother let the handyman in and all went well until he brought in the ladder he would need. Dana went berserk! Mom said she bounced from the hutch, to the windowsill, the breakfast bar, a kitchen chair, the refrigerator, the stove, kitchen countertop, kitchen sink and back to the hutch. Mom said Dana moved so fast it was like watching a pinball in a pinball machine bouncing off all the little flippers till she finally disappeared from view. Change completely freaked her out!!
I can truly relate – have you ever felt like a pinball when confronted with change? I sure have. Have you ever wondered why we fear change so much? Especially when God is bringing those changes into our lives? Why do we struggle so much against Him and fight the changes so much? Has God ever brought a single change into your life that wasn’t for your very best? He has never brought me a bad change – they have always been the best for me and I have always been blessed by them, especially when I quit stomping my feet and throwing my temper tantrum long enough to see His blessings.
I already know 2007 will be a year of transition on several levels in my life. How will I react to those changes? Will I fight them tooth and nail or will I do something different this year? Will I truly trust Him and trust that these changes are His will for me and embrace them? In the midst of change do I always remember that Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever? Shouldn’t He be enough? How I pray to honor Him this year by remembering that He is indeed sufficient, that I can obey His will and I don’t have to turn into a human pinball.
Cindy Amelung is a creative and entertaining writer. "Dana and the New Year" is the first in a series of articles Cindy has written sharing the antics of her kittens and the valuable lessons she's learned from God while caring for them.
Be sure to check back next month!
