Hey guys, welcome back to a new season of Midweek Rise Up. If you're new here, my name is Erica. I'm the host of this podcast, but please do me a favor, call me E. Only strangers call me Erica. We have a lot to impact today as we dive into the word for the week. But real quick, a few housekeeping items for you. First and foremost, I don't

just pump out episodes blindly. I'm very intentional and prayerfully considerate about each one

that is recorded and released. So what that means is if an episode gets released on a Thursday

instead of a Wednesday or there's a week in between episodes. It just is what it is, my friends.

Similar to last week, I pray that you're seeing God move and work in your life as you give

gratitude and praise for the day that you're in. In this episode, we're going to address a word

that people celebrate, but also at times heavily avoid, which is ironic because you can definitely

not avoid this. So let's each of us prepare our heart, clear our mind, and take a deep breath

and unpack the word for this week together as we jump into the good news.

The word for this week is change. We live in a world of constant change, from our cell phones to relationships to the car we drive,

and even the music that we listen to.

And the only constant in change is that change is constant.

And it's really up to you to decide whether or not you're going to bend with the wind of change

or be completely snapped and half by it.

But what I find truly ironic and to some extent paradoxical is the love and hate relationship we all have with change.

Because change is the one thing that is hoped for and prayed for as much as it is despised.

It's the one thing that terrifies us as much as it motivates us, because we'll push against

change and then finally accept it, get all settled in, and then all of a sudden we're uprooted again.

And the cycle starts all over. There's a joyful side to change, and there's also a painful

side to change, a time where it's welcomed, and then another time where it's completely fought.

A perfect example of this is New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Our culture is obsessed, and I'll be honest, I'm a part of this, I'm a part of this problem. We get the new planner, we set the new goals, the new resolutions, and new eating habits, the new year, new me plastered everywhere, gone with the old ways of life, setting up these lofty new year's resolutions. But you want to know a fun fact? A really fun fact here? According to a study conducted

by the University of Scranton, just 8% of people achieve their New Year's goals. Eight percent.

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