Give Me A Chance To Catch Up

Time to catch up and accept the change is what we need. When a loved one comes forward with a huge lifestyle change our processing it can come across as our judging them or not accepting them. What needs to be understood is the person with the new direction has had months, perhaps years, to slowly shift their path. Family and friends can be caught completely unaware and confused.

Even when someone has a drastic change in hairstyle or new glasses it takes some getting used to. When their life preferences shift time is required to come to terms with the new ideals. If the revelation about new life choices is more out of the mainstream the processing time may be even longer. This is true no matter the circumstance. When a nonbeliever forms a relationship with Christ their whole life changes, including how that person relates to family and friends.  Even something as positive as this can take the people around them some time to get used to it. Whether it is joining the military, divorce, moving across the country or something else loved ones have an adjustment period. Moving out of our comfort zone and what we have become accustomed to takes time.

Not only do we need to begin accepting the new path of the person we love, we may also be concerned about how this will affect them and those around them. Again, the person with the revelation has been coming to this conclusion about their life for sometime and has had the opportunity to process. If only they could be sensitive of the time those of us who love them need to catch up. Often that time is seen as unfair judgment or unacceptance. Then a rift may form and further isolate them from each other.

Life is so hard and we need each other to get through. Most of us are accepting of those we love no matter the situation. But it does take time to come around to new directions and life choices. Sometimes the person who reveals a life change worries about others judging them and indeed they wind up judging everyone else’s reactions even more harshly.

Patience and prayer are the keys.  Time and open communication will be important to each understanding not judging the other. A lot of hugs help too!

In Him,

Joyful