Transitions

At our staff meeting this week, I realized that all of us are in transitions of sorts. Becky & Joe are working on their house. The sink and tub are in their bedroom while the bathroom gets re-done. Kate is moving into a new apartment. Jen is getting ready to move. My basement has got to get back together after being torn apart this year.

Not only do we have these physical kinds of transition, we also have other adjustments to make. Kate is settling into the office. Becky is coming up on her last days as DYYAM*, and getting ready to do a chaplaincy internship. Ashley will be moving over as our new DYYAM. Cyd will be coming in to work with Laurine in the Nursery. And Jeremy will be our new intern in about six weeks. As always, Jen and I are aware of how different every year is from the ones that went before, and we need to find a new balance. All of this calls for us to be gentle with each other.

A colleague is at a new congregation and is really excited about being there, but is finding that his energy is sapped quickly. Any time we have to negotiate new relationships, it takes a lot of energy. Not only do we have to learn new pathways, but the old relationships that were almost second nature to us have to give way to new ones. We don’t know how to read the signs and postures of people we don’t yet know well.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but with all this yet to be negotiated territory, I often find it difficult to find my own balance. I know that the future God is calling me towards is full of hope, and yet sometimes it is hard to step towards it.

* Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries

2 Corinthians 5:17

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!