Sarah Markley
About the Author

I'm the mother of two little girls, the wife of an amazing husband who'd rather play the guitar than anything else and I love to write. I spend my weekends watching my daughters ride horses and play soccer. I blog daily and my greatest wish is to see women healed...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. It is a risk, and maybe will hurt, but change…it is a brilliant beckoning. And I’m purposing to embrace whatever it holds. Thank you for your inspiring words. Just beautiful.

  2. I live like you in a place with no snow and very little Spring. This year especially there was very little cool weather during winter.

    But there’s always change….losing a friend to illness, surgery for me, and a need to change apartments in the same town. I’m becoming irritable. Change is hard for me like you said. But the future holds goodness and grace and joys. I need to hold on to Jesus and keep Him as my constant companion. He softens the irritability.

  3. I loved this title before I even read a word, then I loved everything all over again :).

    Change? CHANGE??? We’ve got it coming in buckets–new job, new country, new culture, NEW LANGUAGE–and though it’s just temporary, gosh, I’m trying to seize these days. Some are harder than others, but that means some are easier than others, right? 🙂

    Spring is glorious season…change is just one of those reasons :).

    xo

  4. I actually embrace change. It is something that I almost force, wanting something new all the time. I think that I am a product of the digital age, instant gratification of everything. Probably why I move my furniture around so often! But, the big changes, the ones I want to happen, those are the hard ones. Figuring out a way to stop talking about it and just do it, that is the hard part. Great words to think about!

  5. Hi Sarah

    Yes, I am on the cusp of a new beginning career wise. And yes, it does take courage to dare, so here am I daring to embrace the new. Thanks for your wise and inspiring words.

    Petra x

  6. We are just going to the airport after visiting a state where my husband has been offered a new job. My stomach & heart aches as I don’t like this new place. This devotion came just at the right time today. I just read it to my family in the car and they were laughing because they know how my heart feels about this move. Thanks so much, Sarah <3

  7. I am now considered “middle aged”..ugh, ick, yuck, but the way I feel about that is a totally different topic…lol. I’m facing changes in every aspect of life. Home, career, friends and even the dynamics of my family is undergoing major reconstruction. When I was younger, I deliberately sought out change. Always searching for “it”. I never really found “the answer”, “the place”, “the career”. Now I am attempting to come to terms with accepting this of “stage” my life and that is not an easy task. Compound that by major change and I’m finding it to be a daunting task. I was hoping that by this point, I wouldn’t have to deal with major changes in lie, but merely tweaking bits and pieces of it.

    • Susanne!! You are at a PERFECT place to be used by Him!! Have a willing heart!! It’s exciting to think that you can do ANYTHING with the rest of your life, if you let Him!!
      Many women “our age” are fearful of what lies around the bend….but WE are FREE (finally) to take on whatever direction He leads. Even with health issues (I “get” to have easy-peasy skin cancer surgery on Monday…my 3rd, and surely not my last, and a number of “other” things going on) the world is our mission field!! I got to care for Missionary Kids in North Africa this past fall for 10 days – WOW – I NEVER would have thought that would be possible (without my husband even!!), and experience NEW and EXCITING things!! Let your LIGHT shine, sister!! No more hiding under a bushel!! BE BRAVE!! You ARE LOVED!! (You’re Already Amazing too!! as Holley Gerth would convince you!!) 🙂

    • Yes, I know what you mean about middle age. It’s hard to face. Yet when we are ready to do so (I’m only halfway there lol) I find God has new things in store for me that make me feel young again and excited! I will admit, as I’ve aged, sometimes I look into the mirror and think, “Yikes! Is that really me? I still feel like I’m in my twenties in my heart.” That is the blessing from Christ. He keeps our hearts forever young, eager to do His work!! No matter what our age, Jesus wants to revive us, and yes, put change in our lives that can be so scary. (I’m speaking for myself here). Yet since we belong to Christ, He will always bring us the joy of the newness of Spring when He knows we need it most. Thank you for your candor. I appreciated your post!

  8. Change is definitely happening in my life…my heart…my mind. I can tell that God is wanting to break the ice in my heart and create a raging storm because he is beckoning me into summer. A new season is on the move and as much as I love fresh flowers, breaking through the earth hurts just a bit.

    Thank you so much for this post. I definitely needed it.

    • I like what you said about how you love fresh flowers, but breaking through the earth hurts just a bit. That so resonates with me!!! With God’s help, He will help us “push through” the challenges and into His Light. Thank you for your words! 🙂

  9. You are right. “We can’t ever really count on spring.” I always wanted a summer birthday but since mine is the first day of spring it’s usually cold, wet, cloudy, and often snowy. But not this year. “) Here in Northwest Ohio we hit 84 wonderful degrees on my official day of birth. I had a warm, sun bursting summer birthday on the first day of spring! I got to play outside and walk through gardens of blooming flowers that emerged 6 weeks early! I celebrated and gave thanks for this uncommon change. I welcomed and embraced change all the while recognizing this is a special birthday gift to me from my creator! This kind of positive change helps remind me that Our Great and Powerful God wants to surprise us with beautiful changes if we are willing to open our hearts and minds to trust him. Whether we are having a season of bursting sunshine in our lives or the cold and dreary drag on days of winter, he has gifts for us…surprises really, but they are often wrapped in that word called change. While we can’t count on spring, we can count on our God who is at work in the change.

  10. I thrive on change!!
    I think I’ve always felt that if I’m in the same place, for a long time, I’m not growing the way God wants me to grow….there’s something I’m missing…not quite “getting” yet. (i.e. : 40 years in the wilderness).
    So, when God’s moving me in a new direction, I KNOW He’s got something new for me to learn, and I’d better be on my toes to be willing to learn it. OR – the other side, He wants to USE ME for someone else to learn something….but He’s still got His hands on my life, and it’s not up to me to teach someone (or point out how they are wrong!! LOL) He will use the Holy Spirit to take care of that!! I just need to be a willing servant!!
    Here am I Lord…send me!!
    🙂

  11. I am a change resister. Isn’t that bad? I’m afraid of the unknown, instead of putting my trust in Him. I know I need to be better…But, if we are strictly talking of seasons, then I am all for the changes of Spring and Summer. Bring it on!

  12. I am expeciting my second son in about 2-3 weeks!

    It’s a big change, and totally a “risk,” and I must say I’m entering the “panic period” of late pregnancy…but I am clinging to our Father and that he would never give me more than I can handle. In that, I can find rest.

    🙂 Love your post. Very beautiful imagery.

  13. Sometimes, we pray for change but really what we need is to stay put!
    I’ve been searching for a “change” in the life of my family–only God says, wait!

  14. I think life is about change and it keeps things interesting!
    When I was a child my father molested me. I didn’t understand or care, he had even said sorry… what I cared about was change!
    The change to leave and be in pools and libraries when I needed space as a child –
    The change to leave and be with teenage friends having fun when I was growing up –
    The change to marry and go to college and build a career and a home and love and laugh as an adult, busy and happy –
    The change to have a baby and so much joy and have it understood that I would not cope with certain behaviors that he accepted from himself and his friends –
    The change to figure out how to live strong in my choices and be myself, true to my calling as an early childhood educator and mom, to be accountable and responsible to those who relied on me, and respect boundaries including my own –
    The change to choose to age well with forgiveness that was not only constantly offered up from me in words and actions toward them by being compassionate, but is lived out through the decisions I set for my life – that is, it is okay to forgive yet still expect the wisdom of appropriate boundaries and allow myself space to heal –

    Forgiveness is not necessarily in body (that is being present) but can be in one’s spirit (so that one’s body and mind can heal) in how one thinks of things and is able to process things in order not to become ill and overburdened/overlyresponsible for others’ decisions.
    It has been a hard road becoming a mother in some ways. But the rewards are endless and the joys are constant.
    My husband and I have learned so much and most especially I have learned to rely on God for a greater more far reaching wisdom and to honor one another more deeply in the way that God intended: a love that cares and is respectful and kind.

    I’ve been doing my spring cleaning this week but the peace in my heart for who I am and what God has given me, the tidying, putting away, throwing out, the garden preparations and sunshine are going on inside me as well and I feel like I’ve come through a season of grief into a new day. It’s just wonderful!

  15. Yes, change can be wonderful but it is also a stress. There are adaptations to make and attitudes to check when going through the process of change in terms of health, new directions in life and new relationships to be accomodated. We are blessed tohave a God who is unchanging. He never sleeps. He never slumbers. He is my constant in life that will keep me walking in His ways despite situations that seem impossible.. Right now my health seems to be fragile, my body aging, but He will show me ways to acclimate and find ways to enhance my lifestyle. The risk in change means we must come out of our comfort zone. It can be scary to trust God when pain and anxiety become companions in daily living. I know there is Spring around the corner and something beyond my understanding will bring joy and challenge along with purpose in life. Thank you for the comments on change and the challenge to embrace it with optimism, free of fear.

  16. I’m not a real fan of change unless it’s part of my plan. However, as I replace more of me with more of Him, I’m realizing change is a good thing. No doubt it’s risky business, but risk means letting go of what we can control and leaning into the only true Orchestrator. And in Him we are always “safe.”

  17. Yes! We cannot count on spring… it never turns out to be exactly what we expected, but in the end, Summer WILL come. Spring and change… is how we get there. Sometimes we have to embrace the storm! Thank you for this today!

  18. I just found u twitter. Ur words have made me emotional. I am just starting my divorce, something I didnt want or expect. But he had been unfaithful, has been involved with other things. I need all of the help that I can get. I feel dead, lost, angry and among other things. I have two kids, one is 18 and the other is 11. The youngest is having a hard time. Thx for listening! Ur words are awesome!

  19. Sarah, the timing of coming across this blog is nothing short of a divine appointment. My husband Ron, my son Isaac and I were watching a documentary on Antarctica last night and I was just blown away with the time lapse photography of how the ice begins to break and the waterfalls come to life. Ron and I then sat on the porch and watched a thunderstorm. The smell of the rain, the voice of the rain on the roof, the magnificent thunder and lightening…. I’m in a season of really being thankful for the rain and have been praying that as the rain is sent forth to nourish and produce life in the earth – that God’s Word and Spirit will be sent forth to nourish and produce life in me. I am new to the incourage website and just happened on this blog this morning. Thank you for sharing your gift of words. God is so faithful to put the food we need right in front of us. Blessings to you and your family today.

    Karen