The World Keeps Changing, Now What?

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The world keeps changing, now what?

In this episode, we take a heartfelt and nostalgic look at how much life has changed over the years, from party line telephones and dial-up internet to smartphones and instant communication. What once felt impossible now feels completely normal.

But while technology, culture, and life itself continue to change, one thing has remained constant: God.

Together, we talk about:
• Why change can feel so unsettling
• How God teaches us line upon line
• Why growth and testimony are deeply personal
• Learning to trust God without having the full roadmap
• Giving ourselves and the people we love space to grow
• Finding peace in a rapidly changing world

This episode is a reminder that even when life feels unfamiliar, God is not surprised. He is aware of you, He is constant, and He is guiding His children one step at a time.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who may need a little extra hope today.

https://calendly.com/sherylee-kartchner/25min

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

The world keeps changing. Now what? Sometimes I think we don't even realize how much change we've lived through until we stop and look backward for a minute. I don't always feel old, but when I look back at the changes I've experienced, it does feel like I've been around for a while. Do you remember the sound of a busy signal on the phone or the sound of dial-up internet? That awful screeching noise that somehow meant, okay, we're getting there. Do you remember when you couldn't use the internet and the phone at the same time because you had dial-up internet? Or when the only way to have a private conversation was to stretch a 25-foot phone cord around the corner into another room and you hope nobody picked up the other phone in the house? Honestly, the things we once thought were completely normal now feel almost unbelievable. And yet here we are. We live in a world where we carry tiny computers in our pocket, where we can FaceTime someone across the world in seconds, and where information moves faster than our brains can hardly process. The world keeps changing. Technology changes, culture changes, expectations change, seasons of life change. But one thing has never changed, and that is God. Welcome to Open Conversations for LDS Moms. If you're an LDS mom who loves the church, but life or church doesn't feel as simple as it once did, you're in the right place. Here we talk openly about faith, motherhood, heartache, and finding peace when life looks different than you imagined. The pain we carry doesn't come from life itself, but from the thoughts and meaning we attach to it. I'm Sherry Lee, certified life coach and a mom. I am so glad we get to have these conversations together. This is episode 23. The world keeps changing. Now what? When I was little, my grandparents had what was called a party line. They lived out in the country, so private phone lines took a little longer to get to them. They also had a phone that hung on the wall. It was wooden, about this big, with a crank on the side. And there was like a microphone that stuck out, and then you held something to your ear so you could hear. So if you wanted to have a conversation on that phone, you had to stand right there. That probably felt amazing in that day. The technology and what they had come up with. For party line houses, they shared the same phone line. So if somebody was talking on the phone, you waited. You picked up the phone, you could hear somebody, you hung it up and waited. Maybe there was some listening in for a minute or two. And every house had its own ring pattern. So you knew whether the call coming in was for your house or the rancher across the field. And before that, operators plugged in cords to connect calls. When I was in high school, I didn't have a cell phone, and if I drove into the city, I stopped at the last 7-Eleven on the way out of town where there was a payphone to call and let my dad know I was on my way home, and then he would know if there was a problem to come and start looking. It's wild to think about how far we have come. So we went from operators connecting us at a switchboard to phones hanging in our home with a talking piece and an ear thing that we held to our heads, to party lines, to long extension courts, to making collect phone calls at the last 7-Eleven on the way out of the city. We then eventually moved to cordless phones, which felt revolutionary at the time, even though they were static-y half of the time and only worked if you stayed within a certain range of the base. Then came the giant cell phone, the one that was about the size of the cordless headset that we had in our home. And then we went to flip phones and text messaging. And now our phones, these ones right here, are barely even used as phones at all. I think we sometimes forget how adaptable as humans we really are. Because every generation has experienced change that probably felt overwhelming at the time. I will give you that in the last few years we are progressing faster than it did for a long time. I want to tie that in spiritually as well. The people in the Bible lived in a completely different world than we live in, even 200 years ago. It was different for the people from the Book of Mormon and then our pioneer saints, the progression and the change that they each experienced. I think sometimes we forget that the early saints learned about the restored gospel piece by piece, line upon line, precept upon precept. Revelation unfolded over time. Understanding grew over time. Their capacity grew over time. Because if those early members had been handed every piece of doctrine, every temple ordinance, every future revelation, every organizational structure, every worldwide responsibility all at once, it would have felt overwhelming, doesn't even seem like the right word. Unbelievable. It really would have felt beyond overwhelming, not even able to comprehend, not even possible. So God taught them the same way He often teaches us, one step at a time, one layer at a time and one season at a time. So where am I going with this? We all sit in the same church class. We may hear the same lesson, but we walk away understanding things differently. A more personal level, what we need to hear. Growth is deeply personal, and testimony is deeply personal. Have you ever had the experience when you hear something that you know you've heard a hundred times, but it lands differently than it did the last time you heard it? Experience changes us, and repetition changes us too. Heartbreak changes us, time changes us. It's all about growth. As parents, we panic when someone we love doesn't seem to fully understand or hold on to something we thought we taught them. Part of mortality has always been allowing people space to grow in their own space. I had a client one time say the frustrating part for them when their child said, Hey, I'm not doing this anymore, was I taught them. I know I did. And I said to her, Did you ever sit in, say, a physics class in high school and you walked out of that class not understanding a single thing that went on? Because you were not where the teacher was mentally. Physically, you were in the same room, but you hadn't learned it takes time. And if you wanted to be a physics major, you had to carry on. For myself, I realized I want nothing to do with physics because my brain does not think that way. So part of mortality has always been about allowing people the space to grow at their pace, space to wrestle, to question, to learn through experiences. God Himself teaches progression patiently over time. And if God can allow space for growth and unfolding, understanding, maybe we can too. If you're like me, in a way you want the full roadmap, you want to know how you're gonna get from point A to point B. We know the roadmap. Our heavenly parents have laid that out for us. We just don't know the detours and the blocks and the stop-offs and the road construction and everything else that's gonna happen for us individually and for those we love. We want all the answers. God so often gives us enough light for us to take the next step. And sometimes the light is way down in the tunnel. And sometimes we have to step into the dark room for the light to slowly come on. I know there's people whose experiences have been them gaining a testimony was like switching on a light switch. The room was instantly bright. But for the most of us, even those of us who are raised in the church, it's like the sun coming up and it just gets brighter and brighter. We want all the answers before we move forward. In Doctrine and Covenants section 19, it says, I will lead you along. And Isaiah says precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little. Maybe that's comforting when the world feels like it's changing faster than we can keep up. Because God has never expected his children to absorb everything instantly. He invites us to grow with him. Maybe peace doesn't come from everything staying the same. Maybe it comes from knowing that even when life changes, God does not. Our pioneers lived in a completely different world than we do now. The methods have changed, communication has changed, transportation has changed. Thank goodness. Society has changed, but God hasn't. Hebrews 13 8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Sometimes life changes faster than we want it to. Our families change, relationships change. Even our expectation and dreams change. And if we're not careful, we start believing that all of this uncertainty means something has gone wrong. But change has always been part of mortality. It always has. I think one of the reasons change feels so unsettling is because we love predictability. We love knowing what to expect. We love feeling like we're in control. I'm one of those people that thinks I love change. And I do like a little bit of change. But when I'm in the middle of it, I'm sometimes thinking, what was I doing? Why could I not just stay content doing what I was doing where kind of life felt easy because I had figured things out. But as we push ourselves and progress, growth happens. The thing about growth is it usually feels uncomfortable. Maybe like we've made mistakes. Growth is like asking to let go of something familiar so that we can step into something new. Imagine trying to explain an iPhone to someone that lived even 50 years ago, like my grandfather who passed away 20 years ago. Computers were a thing, and we might have had cell phones, those big brick-looking ones at the time. But explaining a cell phone to him that every conference talk could be in the palm of your hand, you didn't need to save Relief Society manuals or all of those editions of what is now the Liahona, but back then was the friend, the new era, and the enzyme. It would be hard for them to imagine. And maybe there are things God is doing in your life right now that you cannot fully imagine either. I love this quote by Elder Dale G. Renland. God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming than about who you once were. And maybe to get you to where he knows we're capable of being, whether it's your road or your child's road, it could be pretty bumpy and even really messy. Their roadmap is going to look different than yours. Peace does not come from everything staying the same. We like it for moments, but it gets boring. There is peace that comes from knowing that even when life changes, God doesn't. His love does not change no matter what road you take or your child takes. The savior doesn't suddenly stop walking with people just because the world feels unfamiliar. We survived those busy signals and dial up internet. We survived printing maps on map quest for directions or opening a map that we had in the back of the car. We survived rewinding VHS tapes before returning them to blockbusters. We've had to learn how to adapt our whole lives. And somehow we're still here, messy humans, learning and growing along the way. So if life feels really uncertain right now, if the world feels crazy and loud, if things don't look exactly how you imagined they would, you don't need to panic or fear. You need to remember that God has guided his children through changing times since the beginning of time itself. The world keeps changing. I want you to think of the changes that we've gone through, whether it's the phone or the automobile or technology, and trust in God. Think of the changes as amazing growth opportunities. I am so thankful we have electricity and indoor plumbing. He is not surprised by the changes happening in your life or the changes that have happened in the world. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who might need this reminder today that God is constant, he is aware of you, and he is aware of those you love. Sometimes listening is enough, and sometimes you're ready for more support. I want to invite you to a free connection and peace call with me. In our 25 minutes together, we'll talk about where you are, what feels hard right now. You will leave with more hope, connection, and peace. You can find the link to schedule your free call below. And if these conversations matter to you, following, subscribing, and sharing the podcast helps more LDS moms find support, feel seen, and know that they are not alone. Your story is not over. God is still working in ways you may not be able to see.