Change Gonna Come

Alright. It's been a journey of late. The excitement leading up to the big 1 has died down and life is "back to 'normal'" for now, which I've found is a bit less interesting than it was before.  It seems a lot of things have changed all at once again and as I sit here pondering what all is going on, I dug up a few quotes:

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. - Henri Bergson

The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance. -Nathaniel Branden

Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely. -Karen Kaiser Clark

Now before I go on depressing you, let me assure you that this change isn't bad. It's just different and sometimes takes a while before getting used to. You may wonder what on earth am I talking about? What are these big changes? Well in reality, they're nothing huge. Just a few things that change my week-by-week and thus I find myself searching for a new normal, knowing that probably in a matter of weeks or months, it will all change again.  I think this is the way it is for new parents.  People say, and I've now repeated it in my lofty 12 months of experience, "Just when you think you got it figured out, [they] go and change on ya!" So true.

And speaking of change, Greg & I have done a lot of reflecting on this past year and the weeks as they were at this time last year (the birth, the hospital, being at home with a newborn, etc.), and allow me to share a big change from last year to now:

Last year at this time we were finally home from the hospital with Mia as of this past Sunday.  My mom & Jackson were still in town, and we were receiving lots of help and meals from friends & family.  I believe it was this Thursday night that many people came over to our house to help us eat the abundant amounts of food we had from people dropping off meals.  I remember saying hi and trying to be grateful & cheery, which is how I honestly wanted to feel, but I was reeling in those postpartum hormones, uncertain of the hours and days to come, and still feeling a bit lousy from the bouts of flu-like symptoms I was experiencing from the mastitis.  I sometimes wish I could go back in time and turn those feelings off.  It would have been great to have actually enjoyed the company of so many people around me whom I loved, who had traveled a great distance to see Mia and our new family, but it was difficult to put on a happy face.  I remember wondering, "Am I going to feel like this forever?  Will it get better?"  I'm so thankful to report now that things did change and they did get better and now I know for anyone's future reference, it does get better!! 

In the wise words of Gavin DeGraw, covering Sam Cooke, "Change is gonna come."

And while it is oddly comforting, I oft remember the proverb, "There is nothing new under the sun."  So, when I'm feeling whatever which way, I am reassured: God has dealt with this one before and He can deal with it now. Let it go, sista!

O

One of Mia's favorite visitors: Big Uncle Nate! 

(About 2 weeks old in this picture)