Change

Change-One of my frequent nights without much sleep, I was thinking that our
lives are composed of a series of changes. The older I get, the less I like
change. However, it going to happen to us all-like it or not. I started
thinking about my life and all the changes that have been in it.

The first significant change that I remember was moving from the country to
Medicine Hat. I don't remember a whole lot about the actual move but having
all the amenities, like electricity and indoor plumbing, had to be quite a
change from the way we had been living. Starting grade 6 in a city school
with a room full of kids all in the same grade was certainly different for
me after 5 years in a room with kids in all different grades.

The next major change in my life was when I was in grade 11. My father had a
heart attack and passed away. That was quite a shock to the entire family.
For a couple of years, we remained in the big, old house that we had been
living in. But, as my older sisters had left home by then, we moved into a
much smaller house it Medicine Hat.

The next change in my life was going away to university. It was the first
time that I had been away from home which is always an adjustment. However,
I attended university in Lethbridge which is not that far from Medicine Hat
so I could go home on weekends if I wanted to, holidays and, for sure,
during the summer. Also, I either lived in residence or boarded so I didn't
have to concern myself with things like cooking and cleaning.

After graduating from university, I moved to Cold Lake to teach. Now, it was
too far to go home on weekends, though I still went back to Medicine Hat for
holidays and the summer. Now I had no choice but to start grocery shopping,
cooking and cleaning for myself. It was a change for sure.

After two years in Cold Lake, I made the big change that is pretty common. I
got married. It was a big change to go from being single and doing what I
wanted, when I wanted to having somebody around 24/7 and sometimes having to
forgo what I wanted to do. No more summers at home. Now, at least part of
the summer was often spent visiting his parents n Ontario. Throw in a couple
of kids and the change was complete.

The most traumatic change in my life was in July of 1983 when I had a brain
stem stroke. I were from a healthy 33 year old to a somebody who
couldn't move or talk. However, the doctor did say l would learn to walk and talk
again so I had hope. That is until the "complication" that left me in my
present condition. I still don't know what happened but I knew I would never
get better, which threw me into some major depression.

Then came the best change in my life. I became a born-again Christian. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would be totally restored to health. But what I didn't know was how long it would take. No doubt, a good thing or I don't think I would have had the courage to go through it. As it is, though I have had spells of depression and lots of boredom, I have never lost hope.

This past March, I had another change in my life. I was diagnosed with cancer. Cancer is a scary word but, out of desperation, it has made me cling even more to God and the Bible. As a result, my hope and expectation for healing of both the cancer and everything else is higher than in a long time.

This is my journey through the changes that have happened in my life. Other people go through their own series of changes. However, one thing that never changes is Jesus. Like the Bible says, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. It is comforting to know that, no matter what happens or how I feel, His love and care for me are always the same.