Blessings in the midst of transition
Sometimes we simply forget to count our blessings! We should all be thankful for so many things that we take for granted on a daily basis; our family, our friends, our jobs, our church, our home, and the list goes on. God has given us so many blessings that we simply overlook. Why is that?
Our lives are full of things that constantly take up our time. Things that we should be able to put on hold, but for some reason these things seem to fill our days with empty, endless, time consuming nothings. Yet we have little time for things that matter most in life; God, prayer, family, and taking care of ourselves. These are the things that we seem to always put on hold for another day. We will start the fast tomorrow, or the diet, or the prayer journal, or maybe it’s simply taking our children to the park for a walk. Things that are of true importance, we never seem to have enough time to actually do.
God has designed something called day and night. The World has a schedule that seems to fill those days and nights with everything that it deems important, but in the end, these are things that waste our time, preventing us from the things that mean the most. We must realize that Gods plan for our lives doesn’t work on the “normal schedule”.
As you know, we recently left Charlotte where we had lived for the past 8 years. I must say that those eight years were not the most memorable. But they were eight years of being settled in one place, or at least as settled as a traveling ministry family can be.
Moving to Virginia Beach has proved to be a wonderful thing! A much needed time of rest for our family; a place for Judah to belong, learn and strive in his studies; a church family that we love and need; friends that are close enough to visit and spend time with. The list truly could go on for the duration of this letter! So why am I having such a hard time with this transition? It’s the best thing that has happened to us in years!
Transition is a place that means we are changing or something around us is changing. Webster’s states that transition is passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another; or a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another. Let’s take some time here to let that sink in! A PASSAGE from one STATE, stage, subject, or PLACE to ANOTHER; or a MOVEMENT, development, or EVOLUTION from one FORM, stage, or style to ANOTHER! Once you pick yourself up off the floor, we can move forward!
My “PASSAGE” from one “STATE” to “ANOTHER”- or my “MOVEMENT” or “EVOLUTION” from one “FORM” to “ANOTHER”- means many different things in my life. It means that I am no longer a homeschool mother. I now have to live under someone else’s schedule for school, dinner, and bedtime. That is a huge change in our life!
My home is set up differently, and therefore my treadmill is upstairs which prevents me from walking every night while my family and I watch our nightly episode of “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.” Two months of no walking equals 5lbs of weight on short Michele! Although these things may seem small or indifferent on the larger scale in life, they have been absolutely insurmountable obstacles for me to overcome the past two months.
I find myself in the “evolution forming” definition of the word transition. I am “evolving” if you will into the new mom, wife, and woman that God has intended for me to be in the midst of this transition. That means that my life is changing for the good. And yet, I am having a hard time with the blessings that He has given me in the meantime.
What’s my problem? Why can’t I just be thankful and move on? Transition changes us, and we are creatures of habit. Like it or not, most of us have a hard time with change simply because it is different. That means that we can miss the blessings in the midst of the transitions due to our lack of or inability to handle change! We MUST move on! When God has blessings awaiting us, if we don’t move on, we will never recognize the totality of who He wants us to be or all that He has for us to accomplish!
God loves each of us so much that He will allow situations or circumstances in our lives to make us uncomfortable so we can TRANSITION to the new place and position that He has destined us for. So come on people! Let’s count our blessings in the midst of the transition that we find ourselves in. I promise that they will far outweigh the discomfort that you think feel. Think of it like this, there is a sometimes difficult transition from childhood to adulthood. But if we never become an adult; we never grow up, have a family, take on responsibilities and set the course for our future. After all, it’s the circle of life!
I am more convinced than ever that when we feel uncomfortable in life’s situation, it’s nothing more than the Lord “TRANSITIONING” us to our next step in life and ministry.
Transition is simply promotion!
Bask in it, love it, live it!
My prayer for you is that you take time every day, in every situation to count the blessings that the Lord has given you. Write them down and you will see His handy work all over the wall!
Happy Thanksgiving! Let’s enjoy all our blessings while in the Midst of Transition!
Digging the Wells of Worship,
Michele Duncan
www.HisCall.org
From the Desk of Keith Duncan 