marvel

Recently my friend Tammy wrote about how, even throughout the changes of life, so many of our quirks, interests, and mannerisms stay the same. And I think it is true. Crackers, bread, and milk are still perfectly acceptable for lunch for me. I still tend to procrastinate. I still stay in my car after I park if a good song is on the radio. People still tend to think I'm quiet and good for the first year they know me, and then they think I'm "quite a card," (I'm not really sure what that means, but it's been said) after that.

However, it also makes me think how I have changed. For instance, I now prefer Coke over Pepsi. I take my vitamins almost every day. If I still have work to do and I'm tired, I'll go to bed - it's just not worth hurting myself anymore. (I know, Tammy - you'll believe it when you see it). Besides, if I don't get enough sleep, the kids get a very cranky Miss Swigart, and nobody likes a cranky Miss Swigart. I'm not quite the academic or career perfectionist. I get excited and jump around the room and make a complete fool of myself in front of my students, something that I never could have done a few years ago.

But really, I'm not quite the perfectionist I once was. That is huge; nausea has declined, hours of sleep have increased, weekends have become a little more enjoyable, and I have become more content in the present. I appreciate beauty more. I'm still pretty cheap, but I'm much more likely to pay a little more for something that is pretty and practical rather than just practical. I delight in floral tablecloths and delicate bracelets. Those extra details that seemed superfluous and even frivolous are worthwhile now.

I used to stay put more. Now, I'm driving all over the place. I know I'm putting miles on my car, but if I'm not going to use my car to visit treasured friends, why have it?

My friends have changed too. Melissa D. has become one of the strongest and most content single women I know. Kristin faces her trials with a calm, steadfast spirit that absolutely amazes me. Melissa W.'s passions have shifted whole-heartedly to adult ministry. When Kristen B. went back to school, she found herself loving her classes.

Yet, like Tammy, I delight in the things that stay the same as much as I get excited about how God is growing us all. Melissa's love for purple and prayer comforts me as much as it did when she lived in Cov. House. While Kristin still looks forward to chic-flicks, chocolate, and yuppie-puppy coffee, and Melissa still cherishes her family and Justin, Kristen B. and I still talk about our confusion of why we, though we are happy, still long for someone to shares our lives with.

Tammy has considered buying a pink and purple children's Bible. That floors me. However, I'm not surprised to know her love for the Lord would lead her to do it and that she would find humor in it while marveling at God all of the way. I hope that is one thing that will stay the same about all of us - that whatever unlikely situation we may be in - like if I, for instance, ever become a Mary Kay consultant or Melissa D., who hates throbbing music and heat and humidity, ends up ministering in the swamps of Florida while married to an alternative Christian rock musician - I hope that we will still marvel at God and laugh at ourselves.