The New Year is notorious for setting new goals and “resolutions”. We all know and smile when we either hear others or hear ourselves make resolutions, probably because we harbor doubts that any of us will follow through with them for any significant length of time. That’s not going to the case with the Slater Six. We “resolved” to leave the familiar comforts of American life and move the nation of Malawi by August, 2019. With the New Year arriving, we have just passed the 6-month marker in our itineration process. This first six months have been full of adventures, events, and new locations. We have gone to places in Oregon, Washington, South Dakota, and North Carolina that we would never have imagined we’d go. We have met people from all over the country and the world who have become fast friends. We have let go of security and seen God provide support in ways only He could make happen. This is much more than a change of occupation, a change of pace, a change of scenery. This has been a transition.
William Bridges wrote a book called Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes that has been our roadmap. None of this would be possible without the first requirement of a transition- the endingof something. We have learned that changeis an event- you do it and get through it. But, as Bridges so insightfully observes,transitionis psychological.[1] According to his website,
This first phase of transition begins when people identify what they are losing and learn how to manage these losses. They determine what is over and being left behind, and what they will keep. These may include relationships, processes, team members or locations.[2]
The kids feel it: every Christmas tradition we observed was marked with the observation that “this is our last (insert event here) in America.” Amy felt it every time she either decorated the living room or when we attended her birthday treat, The Nutcracker ballet. I feel it by simply driving around Portland where I was born, raised, and have lived the vast majority of my life. BUT…in order to start new things, one must end doing the old things. And..it’s HARD. That word may seem easy to interpret, but it’s not. No one can tell you what it means. We sat in class after class during our summer missionary training and heard variations of “this is going to be hard” or “that transition is going to be hard”. I honestly sat there, agreed with every word, and only realized later what the phrase “this is going to be hard” really meant. It’s a form of death. It’s an ending. There is a form of grief involved. But it has to be done.
In order for any of us to fulfill our full potential, it must begin with an ending. We must give up things that we are so comfortable with that we think it defines us. Does it? Does that possession, that position, that prize, or that person really define you? What if God was so good, so generous, so faithful, that anything He’s asking you or I to give up, to end, will be replaced with something that, if you knew what it was, you would struggle with thinking it’s too good to be true? We believe that is what God is promising. Anything we are asked to end, God is willing to exchange for something better. That doesn’t mean a direct exchange. Not a house for a house. A job for a job. It may simply mean exchanging security for significance. It may mean assurance for adventure. The apostle Paul tried to help a group of people realize that beginning a relationship with Jesus and following Jesus required ending a way of doing life in exchange for beginning to live the fullest life in Jesus.
Not that I have already attained,[c] or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have [d]apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14
As you transition from an old habit to forming a new one, as you transition from a job, a home, a relationship, recognize that the transition requires ending something as much as starting something new. Recognize that it’ll hurt but the old axiom is true: “no pain, no gain”.
“Sometimes God brings times of transition to create transformation.” Lynn Cowell
*We invite you to take a step of transitioning from fearful to faith-filled, from inwardly focused to outwardly focused, by supporting us monthly through prayer and financial support. TAKE ACTION!
[1] Bridges, William. Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2009.
[2] Bridges, Susan. "What Is William Bridges' Transition Model?" William Bridges Associates. Accessed January 03, 2019. https://wmbridges.com/what-is-transition/.