And then everything changed...

I used to live a regimented lifestyle. Always on time. Franklin-Covey planner marked up and checked off to a T. Neat freak and paper filer. I even remember a day when my clothes closet was methodically organized by color, beginning with the lightest shade, and gradually darkening in color as the shirt line grew deeper. Aahhhh.

And then I had kids.

Amazing, isn’t it, how one tiny little person can change everything? Forget the color-coded closet nonsense (wow, did I need a hobby!). Some days I’m just lucky to get the wet laundry switched into the dryer before it sits too long and I’m forced to re-run the load all over again.

But I like this new me much better than the old one. I like approaching train tracks with a minivan full of kids and silently thinking, “Man, I hope we get stopped by one today.” The old me would have grumbled at the delay. The new me wants the first spot next to the crossing, so my kids have the best view (okay, and so the engineer can see us all giddily pumping our arms up and down in hopes that he’ll sound the whistle – for just a little longer than necessary – at our hyper request). I used to complain about things like a blanket of fresh snow on the ground, and would immediately think of compromised commutes and of how winter drags on for what seems like forever here in the Midwest. Now I join my kids and with pure excitement, we sprint to the nearest window and cheer loudly at the sight of the first snowflake. And then I shallowly ask God to make it that perfectly packing kind, just right for boy-sized snowballs and snowmen.

Sure, the little inconveniences that surround things like busy train tracks and snow storms still exist. But my identity as a mom has given me a new perspective on life. A much sweeter, freeing perspective.

Ephesians brings us good news. There was a baby who changed everything over two thousand years ago. His name was Jesus.

His coming was less than glamorous and certainly not convenient according to human terms, but He would prove to change the path of humanity in an instant. The world would still remain incredibly imperfect, but suddenly He gave us reason to see life in a whole new way. A different perspective.

A future and a hope…

Jesus.

Are you living with the perspective as one who is forgiven today, or are you still stuck in the “old” you? Focused on the inconvenient, or living joyously free? Confident in your identity in Christ, or looking to the world for value and fulfillment?

He came, and everything changed…

“BUT GOD, who is rich in mercy,

because of His great love with which He loved us,

even when we were dead in trespasses,

MADE US ALIVE together with Christ – it is by grace you have been saved.”

Ephesians 2:4-5

Today, you can LIVE like you KNOW it.