Changes and Chances

Have you ever worked those puzzles where you were given a word and then you had to make as many other words as you could? For example - CHANGE. If I were to break CHANGE down, I come up with the following words:
CHANGE HANG CAN NAG AN HE HA

Can you find any words I missed? Now, what if I CHANGE 1 letter in CHANGE and make it CHANCE? The meaning of the word has literally CHANGED. Funny isn't it, how sometimes just CHANGing 1 thing, can actually CHANGE everything.

Think about your spiritual journey. How has it CHANGED since you accepted Christ? Have you taken CHANCES or made CHANGES? Maybe you've done neither, or maybe you've done both? Maybe you aren't really sure what you've done... For me, I have taken CHANCES and made CHANGES. Most recently, I took a CHANCE becoming a Sunday School Teacher with my husband, Don. We've been teaching now for 5 years. This experience has and continues to CHANGE my life. (Try spending 36 hours locked in a church with 13 5th and 6th graders stuck in rocking chairs. They have been some of the best 36 hours I've ever experienced!) I took a CHANCE when I started writing these weekly muses of mine. I never knew what a CHANGE they would make in my spiritual journey. Making CHANGES and taking CHANCES doesn't have to be all at once. Try doing it one letter at a time...

Walk with me...

Oftentimes we find ourselves on a road that leads to different paths, and we don't know which direction to take. To the left, the road is bumpy and needs repair. The trees are overgrown, and there is no sunlight shining through. To the right, the road is flat and long stretching out into nothingness. The ground is barren and depressing. The sun beats down from overhead. Which way do you choose? Which path is the right one? Is there no one that will go on this journey with you? You can't make this decision alone... you am tired and depressed. You have lost your teacher, your mentor, your best friend to a brutal killing that he didn't deserve. Which way do you go? How will you ever recover? You sit down in the middle of the road and bow your head in despair. You are lost. You are alone. You are afraid...
After a time, you feel a presence, a hand on your shoulder. You look up and there is a person beside you, reaching out his hand to help you up. Come, what are you so troubled about? Walk with me, the way is not long. I will go with you down whichever road you choose. I am not afraid. The road is long, but we can make it together.
You begin to tell this man of your troubles, how you have lost your best friend. Your way seems unclear and you have nothing left to give. The man speaks to you and it is only then that you can open your eyes and see who it is walking beside you - it is your friend. The one who you thought you had lost. He is RISEN as he said he would. You know you will NEVER be alone again, no matter what the road you choose...