Routine is a powerful thing. After I graduated college, our family spent 11 years in a starter home. We sold it and moved about 5 miles away, where we lived the next 11 years. A little more than 5 years after we had moved into that second house, I found myself driving home after church one night, to the first house. I was in the driveway next to a stranger’s car—trying to understand why it was there—before I realized my mistake.
Even when we propose and commit to change, things tend to come back around. We find ourselves—sometimes comfortingly—back in that familiar driveway. Even developing good patterns (e.g., spiritual disciplines, healthy relationships, intentionality in work) does not guarantee an escape from the unhelpful habits and routines persistently at our heels.
Yet, change does come—sometimes in an unchosen or unexpected circumstance of life, sometimes in a conscious act—and even the most intransigent routines can be broken. Having someone else’s car in your driveway, and of course, their entire life in your old house, for instance, can provide a pretty strong impetus for ceasing to make the old drive.
There may be a thousand things to pull us back toward business as usual. But there is also a God who can use all of creation to make things new. Seasons change. So can we.
May the turn of every new season help you ready yourself for a new drive.