CHANGING SEASONS ... Thoughts on Transitions

Many here in Ethiopia are excited for the season shift that should be happening any day. The dry hot weather of May into June will soon almost completely shift into three months of rain. Big clouds, cooler temperatures, and frequent downpours… will be almost constant. This time, I’m also eager for the shift and change of season. The sun has been too hot.

Often in the morning, I see the sun coming up behind my curtains… and I think… when will the season shift … transition? When will the rains start? What will the new season bring? What will change?

 

Besides the weather, other things are also in transition here. We are leaving a school year behind. One of my schools, ETC (the Evangelical Theological College) already finished. Our graduation was a few weeks ago.

 

Hope College, my other school, is still wrapping up. I just finished giving the final exam for my classes this past Wednesday. There is just a little more grading that now remains. Yearbook pictures have been taken and many of my best students are looking ahead with anticipation to graduation day on July 8th. Many of these students I had four and five years ago as freshmen. Makes me very teary eyed with pride to see them all dressed up and grown up. They’ve passed through a lot.

 

Looking back on the school year overall, it was a great year at both schools. Tons of great students, tons of teaching,  and tons of just life in general filled the days. I had close to 500 students between the two schools and seventeen different classes. Here are some of them ... :-)

 

So grateful and humbled to get to do what I do! Life is certainly a gift that needs embraced. It’s all about experiencing the journey God gives us and learning as we go in the seasons.

But seasons often change, transition, into different ones for whatever reason.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to tear down and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh… a time to mourn and a time to dance … a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them … a time to embrace and a time to retrain… a time to search and a time to give up … a time to keep and a time to throw away .. a time to tear and a time to mend.. a time to be silent and a time to speak…

And when seasons shift or things change, if you’re not ready…or even if you are… these times of transition can be hard.

Maybe you change jobs or change locations. Maybe you start a new job or you retire. Maybe you get married or a relationship ends. Maybe you have a baby or a death happens. What do you in that transition time?

Often change causes us to be uncomfortable. Normal rhythms of life can get thrown off.

Most of us like comfort. We like to know what’s ahead. But God doesn’t call us to comfort. He calls us to follow Him. And that often takes us away from comfort or places of ease. He often wants to stretch us. And I don’t like to stretch. But it’s good for me.   

And life in general brings change.

So how do we handle that? 

I think God uses transition times in my life, between seasons … for many things.

He allows me to catch my breath and reflect. And He often challenges me to check where my head is, where my heart is. He asks me if my foundation is still Him, or is it on other things? Or people?

Where has sin or Satan gotten in? Where I have stumbled, maybe repeatedly?

What do I need to let go of? What do I need to hold onto?

These are hard questions God often asks me in transition times. And for those questions, though hard, I’m grateful. Because so often I can go down a wrong path and get lost. And if I don’t get realigned before the next big season starts, it can be a disaster.

I’m so thankful our good Father in Heaven goes with us. He goes before us and shows us the way. And He loves us with a crazy love… it’s compassionate and merciful and rich and unchanging.

Through all seasons, He’s the constant in change. The one that doesn’t leave. But remains… holding my hand… your hand… through every valley…up every hill. Over every mountain. Through every slide. He’s there with us.

Malachi 3:6

I the Lord do not change.

Psalm 73:23-24

…I am always with you. You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel. And afterward you will take me into glory.

When I look back at my life overall, I see God with me through the changing seasons. He never left me. He’s wooed me, wowed me, and stretched me. He’s taught me. Wiped my tears. Helped me to stand. Helped me to be quiet. Humbled me. And given me boldness. He’s shown me my weaknesses, and then His strength. SOOOOO much. I’m grateful for this Dad. Our great God!

And I also have been very blessed to have an earthly father showing that same steadfastness through years of change in my life.  This Father’s Day weekend… I can’t help but give a huge shout out to the great and amazing, charming and handsome Jim Garrett, my “Daddy in Dayton”!!!

 

 

I remember the YEARS of Him being there through the changing seasons…

I remember elementary school days/years… and my Dad… kicking the soccer ball with us after his work and mowing the grass as we played in the water sprinkles. Taking us for French fries and making sure we got an equal amount, so necessary and important for twins. J Taking us to K-Mart to get school clothes. Swinging us in his arms and tossing us in the air in the waves at pools. So fun and so active in our lives. He was brave in storms and huge with a shovel in blizzards. His lap was always open for us to climb in. And He always had room for two. J

 

Then there were middle school years… soccer and big hair and school dances. WEIRD WEIRD time. Glasses and contacts and lots of hair spray and funny styles… I remember moon shoes and suspenders. Did that really happen? Ha ha. … but Dad was there… loving us through it all.

Then there was High school…. more soccer… dating, leadership, activities. My Dad was always there cheering us on, giving advice.

Then came college, grad school, jobs, world travel… my Dad continued to love and continues to love us.

 

 

I can’t say enough how proud and honored I am to have this Dad. No words. He’s loved so much!

 

You might not have had a good earthly dad, but you have a heavenly one, we all do.

Who loves you/us through every season, every change, and every transition.

If you’re in a transition, a changing season now, or approaching one… remember these promises:

Isaiah 43:1-5

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze…Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you…

Psalm 48:14

For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end.

Matthew 28:20

…I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Isaiah 30:21

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

AMEN!

Prayer Requests

I have just a few big things remaining these final five weeks before coming home for a few weeks of rest at the end of July…

-Please keep final grading in prayer as we wrap up the semester at Hope. Also pray for our huge graduating class of 200 students- for graduation day- July 8- that it will be a wonderful day and transition time and that God will bless these students… also the ETC ones… as they move into the next chapter of their lives.

-Please pray for a youth ministry training – mission trip I will be leading in mid-July to Jinka, in the southern part of Ethiopia. A team of seven of us will travel from Addis about 700 km south… to train about 100 pastors and leaders in youth ministry. May God bless this time. If you’d like to give a special donation for this trip, please let me know.

 

-Please pray for final student celebration trips, my Bible studies as we wrap up, that God will bless these final weeks of transition.
 

-Please pray for my time at home in late July into mid-August. That God will give me a good time of rest with my family, before heading back to Ethiopia to begin teaching in late August. If you’d like to give for my airfare home and supplies, I need to do special fundraising for that as well.

-Please keep my family in prayer… they are all well!

And Happy Father’s Day to the great Jim Garrett- and everyone else celebrating dads this weekend!!!

May God bless you in the changing seasons and transitions you’re facing!  May He help us all as we journey on!  Please let me know how I can pray for you!

Blessings from Ethiopia!