There’s yet another transition on the brink. In about 36 hours, John and I will be on the road with our Penske truck beginning our four-day endeavor of moving to Brooklyn, New York. In some ways, this type of transition is so similar to others. In other ways, it’s entirely different. But, as the end of all things brings a revelation to what the season has entailed or lacked, so this one does also.
In this time of transition, I am reminded of how I am able to deal with new change and transition well as long as I have the three following things: the Lord (thankfully He’s always there); a home base; and at least one person I know well alongside me for the journey and changes. I know it takes me a little bit of time to adjust to new things, but once I have that initial period with the three things I mentioned above, then I’m usually good to go and do well in the new phase of life.
It’s funny though, how this time around, I am realizing how those three things are also key to me being able to end things well also. I have never realized this before. So, where am I now with this?
The Lord has been so sweet and gracious in this season and in my life. I know I never need to doubt Him, His presence, and provision. There have been different home bases here in Colorado, each with its own merits and some with their own challenges. I have been able to walk through this season as a newlywed, loving this journey with my husband and finding such provision and grace from the Lord in having John in my life.
Community with friends has been very rich lately. This last month has been filled with community in so many varying forms. We have been able to visit our best friends out in SLO for a week and connect with other dear friends there. I can’t even begin to describe how much I was blessed by the week in SLO with Elise Thelander. She and I have lived so much of life together, and it was sweet to live life together for another week, which also happened to be her last week in SLO before she moved away in preparation for her move to Santa Barbara and starting her own new phase of life. In reflecting about our conversations in the weeks that have followed since then, I am appreciating more and more what life-giving words and thoughts we were able to share and confide in each other in. We truly are well known by one another, and it was sweet to talk through so many of the same aspects of transitions that we are each going through at the same time now. Right before I saw her, I was able to spend a whole weekend with my roommates from college, whom I treasure beyond measure. We are all going through transitions in different ways, but as we are known by each other, there was sweet camaraderie in our time together. I also have been able to spend time with my best friend in Colorado as she is moving to Argentina a week after we move to Brooklyn. We have been friends for about 14 years, more than half our lives. Our fellowship is so sweet and the Lord uses our times together to challenge and confirm many things in the other’s lives.
In our visit to New York for our apartment searching, John and I were able to have a whole week of undivided time with just each other, working towards the same common goal. That was a huge blessing and a wonderful foreshadowing of what more is soon to come. Then, we also got to have dinner with a wonderful couple that are leaders in the church that we are going to be a part of. The Lord has certainly made New York City a very small city, as the guy is from Colorado Springs and was actually in the same 3rd and 4th grade classes as my brother. There was sweet community there in engaging with people that we don’t know much yet but share a similar background.
We also got to see one of our greatest friends from college on Friday, and it is always good to catch up on life and where the Lord is leading us respectively. He has been a solid anchor in our lives since freshman year, and we appreciate him greatly.
There has also been much time with family, particularly over this year we have been back in Colorado. It has been very good to learn and become a part of our spouse’s family and embrace them as our own also. This is time that we seldom don’t have the opportunity for, and the Lord has been very gracious in giving it.
So at the end of that very long recap, it makes me think about the current transition and the ending of this season. In some ways, it is very easy. In other ways, it is difficult, because not all of the things that I need for transition are fully there. Some things have been very hard. I’ve had to ask the Lord the reason for it, as I want things to end well and fully, and I don’t feel that they currently are in some ways. I am realizing that this week in between our visit to New York and our move to New York only solidifies what I truly value, believe in, and need. I need a home base where I feel valued and that I have a place in. I need community where I feel well known, and are willing to put in the effort with me in forging relationships and developing them. I do not do well with mediocrity. I do not do well when there is little communication and lack of understanding.
I know that the Lord uses these lacks to remind me of His provision of home and community within Himself, and I am so thankful that within Him, I can truly rest. However, I also know He has instilled these values within me as part of who I am to the core, and those do need to be met with community and home too.
The new realization tonight in this, is that John and I may have to work for these things to be manifested in our community and home in ways that we haven’t had to before. New York City is a whole different world. I think it is easy to think that our community has come easy to us before, and in some ways it has. In others though, we have had to work through things with people and fight for relationships. We don’t know what it will look like in New York City yet. But, tonight I am thankful for the reminder at the end of the transition of who I am at the core and what I need to thrive. It’s not there in every way at the end right now. It may not be there in every way at the beginning. Yet, I will trust the Lord to provide and be prepared to work in a way that I haven’t before for these things to be manifested.
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