Bittersweet Transitions

This weekend was filled with a myriad of emotions and tears.  While we’ve known for a really long time we’d be leaving Central Florida, sometimes knowing it was going to happen doesn’t always make it any easier.  Don’t get me wrong; I have NO DOUBT that moving to Ohio is where God wants us.  But sometimes it’s just so hard to say good-bye. 

I wrote in a book once (still unpublished), I made the comparison to people in your life with a patchwork quilt.  I wrote that people, that you cross paths with in your life, make up the patchwork quilt of you.  Some people give you their piece to put in the quilt and it might be bigger than what you wanted, or their piece might be smaller.  Some people are that warm fuzzy piece you want to snuggle with, and others are that very scratchy irritable section that always makes you annoyed.  However the quilt is yours.   You leave fabric pieces for people in your lives, and they leave their pieces with you.   You have to be okay with the pieces people leave behind, and understand that part of them will always be with you.  It’s funny that though I wrote that analogy many years ago in a book, I go back to it often when dealing with transitions.   I’ve always thought that was one of those revelations I’ve received when writing that had to have come from the Lord. 

It can be so easy to forget that when we say good-bye on this earth that we only have a certain amount of time allotted to us.  However there is an eternity that waits.  Our moments here on this earth are just vapors in time (James 4:14).  The good news is when it comes to fellow believers good-byes are never forever.  We’ll all be in heaven one day together. 

Dan and I have joked for months that when we cross that Florida border this weekend in the U-Haul we want to take a moment to dance across the Florida line.  While it’s something we’ve joked about, I know that I’m going to leave part of me here.  In turn I will be taking fabric pieces of many we’ve known and loved for the last 13 years with me.  Transitions are never easy; so many avoid them because they can be painful and emotional.  However once you know that you know what God has called you to do, run towards it with gusto.  There is no need to look back.  Choose not to be like Lot’s wife and remember the old.  Push forward to the new, and know that God is moving you closer to destiny.   Move forward!

Isaiah 43:18-19

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁸ “Remember not the former things,
    nor consider the things of old.
¹⁹ Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

            God is doing a new thing!  Embrace it!  Run towards it!  That doesn’t mean you’ll forget those people you love.  It just means you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and forward lies the next step.

            God Has Awesome Plans for your life.  Get excited!

*Since I will be moving this weekend, I will only be writing one blog this week, and at some point next week I’ll write one.  Essentially I’m going to take a week off.  Please keep us all in prayer.  We are believing for favor, and trusting God for smooth sailing.  As always we love you all.  Super Smiles!