Transition is one word that describes our house right now. My garage is full of boxes, every inch of my basement is filled with furniture, the bedrooms are full and voices and laughter echo through the house. All signs that my girls (and their husbands) are under our roof of the summer! Our home has become their launching pad as they transition back to the U.S., prepare to get married next month, and return home from college.
The entire family together on Father's Day!
Watching their transitions, I’m reminded we often view transition and the uncertainty it brings merely as something to ‘survive’. After 50+ years of life transitions, I’ve realized God is most concerned about the heart and not necessarily answering all your life questions. Here are three wisdom tips I like to share with my girls and those walking through transition:
1. Celebrate the present and surrender the unresolved – Transition is filled with the “what ifs” “what about” “who” “what” “WHEN” “where.” Often we feel we can truly be at peace and ‘move on with life’ once those are resolved. However, as believers, our lives should be characterized by peace. Sally Breedlove in her book Choosing Rest says it so well, “We find rest in the incompleteness of the present moment as we learn to recognize the goodness of what is and as we trust that what is needed for the future will be added at the proper time.” What a place to live – celebrating the goodness of the present! I challenge you to give surrender your ‘loaves and fish’ each morning and watch and celebrate God’s provision EVERY day.
2. Pray relentlessly – Why do we run to everyone else but the doors of heaven when we are in the throes of transition? As Psalm 123:1 says, He is the One enthroned, and Christ calls us to shameless persistence in our prayers (Luke 11:8) and to keep on asking, seeking and knocking (Luke 11:9). Simply beginning each day knocking on the doors of heaven will fix, alter and align our perspective, expectations and prayers with His heart.
3. Serve unabandoned – Transition usually equals “me.” No time for others because ‘look at my messy life.” Isn’t it funny how introspective we can get at the first glimpses of insecurity and uncertainty. I challenge you to remedy this selfishness with serving: wash the dinner dishes for your wife, make your husbands favorite dessert, mow the lawn and surprise your mom, volunteer in the church nursery, offer free babysitting to a young family. Follow Christs model and approach relationships by showing up to serve not to be served.
For more wisdom for transition, check out these wisdom hunter devotionals: Timely Transitions, Walk on Water
Interested in more Wisdom Resources? Find Choosing Rest by Sally Breedlove (under Wisdom for Women) in the Wisdom Hunters bookstore.
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That was informative. Keep up the great work.