A week ago I was in a different state. Not state of mind, although that is true too, but state in this country. All the way across the country from where I live. A day of flights, layovers and missed shuttle later and I was in a hotel with over 700 women gathering for what turned out to be an amazing 3 day conference: She Speaks. There were fabulous speakers, Lysa TerKeurst, Michael Hyatt, Holley Gerth, to give you an idea, and so much learning that I am still processing it all a week later!
Which brings me to the question, How do you measure change? How do you recognize when something is different when it seems change happens subtly?
The change you’re experiencing may come in seconds like a set of waves at the edge of the ocean.
You may be caught off guard, the change comes and you get wet since you weren’t paying attention.
Or change may happen so slowly that you’re not sure what’s different, you just know something is.
Keep an eye on the shape of this creek…
There is a difference of a week between these two shots. Intense power redirected the path of this creek that leads into the vastness of the ocean. In.one.week.
The week before the creek was winding its way to its goal. Now it is a straighter path.
A week ago I was eager. Now I am reflective. I am full of learning and now slowly processing the impact of change.
How do you measure change? How do you know it’s happened?
Hezekiah on his sick bed cried out to God for more time on this earth; God heard and answered through the prophet Isaiah that Hezekiah would have 15 more years of life. How was that change measured? The shadow of the sun went back up the stairs 10 steps. (read the story here)
The change was measurable. It was recorded for us to read.
How are your changes measured? Through your memory only? Or do you record change for reflection, for your family, for the future generations to look back on?
How are you capturing the changes in your life?
Hey Lisa! Your writing is great and I really enjoyed the pictures you included. How to measure change is an interesting question. I suppose I measure change by keeping a record. Spiritual growth is easily measured by the fruit it produces! Keep writing friend! Xoxo
Thanks for your encouragement Shaena! You mentioned you help measure change by keeping a record; is that a journal or some other form?
Lisa, I love this! I love how you recognized change. I too was changed in big ways after SheSpeaks and am yes, still processing everything. I loved taking some time to think about how that change can be measured – I truly am not sure how subtle the changes are. I felt like it took me a huge amount of time to click back into reality….BIG changes maybe? Unfortunately due to my full time job, my writing has been limited since returning – yet I have so much I wish to share and write about. I plan to begin using a journal to capture change! Thanks again! I so enjoyed meeting you at SheSpeaks and hearing your speaking topic! It was awesome!
Kelley I’m so glad our paths kept crossing over the weekend! You are such a great encourager! So glad to hear someone else is still processing all we heard. It is hard to hit the ground running after such a great experience; getting back to full time work and implementing new learnings takes grace for ourselves! Let me know how the journaling goes as you capture the BIG changes!
I can’t say I can honestly measure the change that has happened in the past few weeks/months, but I can say that the biggest difference is that I spend much more time looking ahead then looking back. I see more future than I see of the past – does that make sense?
As for the change since She Speaks, the best way for me to describe what happened to me is this…..when I went to She Speaks, I was confident in God. When I came home from She Speaks, I was(am) confident in myself and in my calling. I don’t know if you can measure it, but like your river picture, the direction of it has completely changed.
God Bless you Lisa…..