Tag: transitions

How to Navigate Changing Seasons

June 13, 2022 /

The sweet aroma of lilacs envelops me as I bike under the canopy of leafy trees, shading our street. I breathe deep and whisper a prayer of gratitude.

A friend of mine calls this “the lifiest time of the year.” The peonies are finally ready to bloom. The grass needs mowing.

It’s June. Your high-schooler or kindergartener or college student is graduating. Someone is getting married and someone is having a baby and others are starting new jobs or moving.

With the celebration of every new “lifey” thing, there is also a releasing, even a grieving for what is ending or dying.

We have recently moved from California back to Minnesota where life has gone on without us. I’m grieving not having an in-person church home anymore, not having family nearby, not having a clear calling in this season…But I’m also celebrating the lakes and reconnecting with old friends.

Years ago, a mentor of mine likened navigating seasons of change to being a trapeze artist. There is that scary moment when you have to let go of one bar to grab onto the new one coming towards you. The new bar may be exciting, but it also may be hard to let go of the one you’ve been holding.

How do we courageously let go of the past and reach for the future? Can we honestly name the deaths without missing the new life…celebrating both the new blessings, and those of the past?

Some big transitions we naturally mark with ceremonies, or family gatherings, but what about the smaller, quieter changes?

  • Maybe you need to look back through old photos or journals, have a good cry and buy a new one, yielding the next season to God’s will.
  • It might look like a discussion around your family dinner table, each person naming one joy of the past season that they’ll miss, and one thing they’re looking forward to.
  • Maybe it will mean taking a walk with a friend, processing the valuable lessons you’ve learned, and any invitation from God you’re sensing in the coming season. There may be things you are glad to leave behind.
  • Or it might look like praying with open hands, naming the things you’re relinquishing, while thanking God for the new experiences that await you, trusting in His creative life-giving goodness. If you’re facing challenges in this next season it may mean praying for the courage to make hard choices.

Lord, today I celebrate Your goodness and faithfulness in this past season – the gift of friendships, new adventures, a clear place to belong, and assignments from You. I confess I miss these gifts, but I also anticipate Your kindness and direction in this next season. I yield myself to You. I want to greet each day with an adventurously expectant, “What’s next, Papa?” May Your will be my delight. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

What are you leaving behind? What are you anticipating as you reach forward? Stay tuned for a free resource to help you reflect with God and set yourself up for a flourishing new season!

Back to School Soul Food

August 30, 2019 /

Fridays I try to share a cornucopia of resources that I pray will cheer, inspire, encourage, or just make you smile. Here you go…

It seems that from mid-August to mid-September, every week another batch of kids are starting back to school.

Honestly, the week after Labor Day is the hardest of the year for me. I’m deeply sad that summer is ending, rhythms are changing, people will be “hibernating” soon, and I miss doing this season with our girls who are on opposite coasts.

I miss the back-to-school shopping and the exciting beginning of all of the THINGS for the new year.  I miss “bouquets of newly-sharpened pencils”, the season of hands-on parenting with all the family traditions, and night time prayers, and snuggled up in jammies story reading.  I miss our first day of school chicken pot pie dinner, and I miss the annual measuring of our girls.

ps. are these the cutest girls ever, or what?

Can I make 2 suggestions as a mom whose kids are grown?

First, hug your kids and pray (out loud) over your them before they head out the door. It can be a very simple “Lord please help _____ to be brave and kind today. May _________ know he/she is always loved by us and You, and You are always with him/her.”

Second, sometime today when the kids are out the door to pre-school or high school or college, (or their job because the empty nest may be a myth, dontchaknow), take a minute in the stillness after the “get ’em out the door storm” and look around you.  Even walk through your quiet house. Look for signs of growth in your kids and in your family.  And thank God.  

If you’re a parent sending a child off to school for the first time, or dropping them off at college, or getting them settled in their first apartment, this blessing is for you:

Today, may you hold tightly to the hand of your heavenly Father, just as your children have held yours. May you know deep in your soul that even when you aren’t with them, there is a Parent who is. He is all-knowing, eternally loving, and has good plans for your kids. May your children see glimpses of God’s love, His grace, and His care for them wherever they are today. May He equip them to be brave, kind, and celebrated as fully themselves – wonderfully made.

Whether it’s changing seasons, a move you’ve chosen, or loss of a relationship, transition is hard. You might find some helpful thoughts here.

In spite of grieving the end of summer, we lean into autumn, and there’s lots to look forward to. What are you excited to celebrate? Journal a list?

He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.

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Isaiah 43:19

One of the perks of parenting – embarrassing your kids.

For those of us Downton Fans, here’s a 12 minute clip to help us get excited for the movie coming in September!

Can you even BELIEVE this is a thing???! Raise your hand if you’re adventurous enough to try.

I LOVE Half Baked Harvest, and can’t wait to try this (instead of pumpkin spice spam)!

Lastly, when dogs go to school 🙂

I’d love to have you join me over on Instagram! Come say “Hey!” and have a great weekend!

Fear, Seasons, and Your Legacy

September 13, 2013 /

It’s Fearless Friday, and I’m so excited to introduce another guest writer to you!  John and I have had the privilege of walking alongside Kari and Matt Norman for several (10??) years now.  They are a remarkable young couple who lead authentic, examined lives of faith in Jesus.  You’ll see that from Kari’s words today!

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Last Wednesday my husband and I watched our twin boys climb up the school bus stairs, smile and wave through the window, and head off for their first day of kindergarten.  It was a marking moment, and one I’d envisioned in my mind’s eye many times.

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I had been holding it together so well!  Until the day before… when despite best efforts, I cried at the parent teacher conference when asked if this was my first child entering kindergarten.  I said, “Yes, my first, and my second.”  Pause.  “And my last, all at once.”  Cue the tears.  The teacher reached across the table, held my hand, gave me a look that conveyed genuine care, as well as a nod that seemed to say, “You can hold it together.  Really, you can!  Um, please…  can you?”

She didn’t know that I’d had six miscarriages along the way.  Continue reading

First Days

September 4, 2013 /

Today (Tuesday) is the first day of school in my neighborhood.  The leaves are sounding a little different – a little drier as the breeze ruffles through, and already they’re giving up their valiant effort to hang on.  The green of summer is surrendering to autumnal shades.

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Change.  Sometimes we fight it.  Sometimes we embrace it, like these two little girls ready for school.

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As I jogged past the kids and parents gathered on each street corner, I paused to wave and yell “Happy first day of school!”

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I thought back to all our first days as a family.  Sure, the marking first days of school when we had “adopted” family members, Sue and Heather over for dinner (always homemade chicken pot pie) to hear a recap of every high and low, every “he said, she said” of K and M’s six hours at school.  But there have also been first days of new jobs, first days of marriage, first days of grad school, first days in a new home or apartment for each of us.  New seasons.

And each first day means there’s been a last day.  A last day of summer.  A last day of being single.  The last day in a familiar city that’s been home.

As I jogged and reflected, I was reminded of two things.

Continue reading

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