Some of us don’t like change–note the “us.” Even accepting small changes can be a challenge. There’s an unnerving sense that something isn’t right.  A subtle disequilibrium persists while you wait for an outcome, even if the answer doesn’t really matter at all in the great scheme of things–like whether my dogwood that has always been pink will forever after be subtly red like it is this year.

The Holy Spirit is designated in the New Testament as the paraclete, the One who helps–the Helper Who comes alongside and counsels as we go. G. Campbell Morgan loved to quote one phrase from Deuteronomy 33:17 in sermons:  “…underneath are the everlasting arms.” Sometimes when things are changing around us and we don’t know how they’re going to turn out, and we think we’re not going anywhere, just waiting, that’s okay, too.  God’s all-powerful arms are there for support, His Spirit has come along side, whether the change is big or small, or the result is temporary or permanent.

I suspect that thinking about the significance (or lack thereof) of the small changes helps us accept them, and more importantly, be less panicked and more willing to wait and see what in the world God is going to do next, when the big changes come.

Are you expecting a change in your life soon?

People commonly speak of “wearing different hats,” indicating playing different roles in different contexts. I might describe myself as a wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, pianist, retiree, gardener, artist, singer, author, or writer, depending upon what I was doing at the time. My business card says “Research and Writing Consultant.”

Many years ago, I collaborated with someone who had a doctorate in history to write a high school US history textbook for a major publisher.  He resigned from the project before it was finished, and the senior editor combined that man’s contribution and mine, and added a great deal of her own, and published the book with no authors, just herself as editor. I felt slighted at the time, but she was right–for that book, I was a researcher, not the writer. Later, personal experience articles I wrote were published in Guideposts and elsewhere with my tag line, and academic articles were published online and in professional journals; but none of the six or eight books I’ve written has been published–yet.  🙂

So do I have a writer’s hat or an author’s hat? Does it depend on what I’m writing, or if it gets published or not?

I don’t know, and I don’t know if it matters.  I just need to make sure I show up with the right hat at the right place.  At 11:27 last night, I sent off a 99,968-word manuscript of a novel I wrote, to be considered by a publisher.  At that moment, I felt very much I should go out and get a hot fudge sundae and wear my author’s hat.

But today is Mother’s Day, and I’m happily calling myself a mom. Get out the biggest hat!

What are you doing when you “wear your biggest hat”?