Transition time.... waiting, listening, and prayer time.

You may or may not be going through a transition time right now in your personal life.  What about those around you?  Church?  Other family members?  Friends? 

My daughter recently "graduated" or was promoted from 5th grade to 6th grade.  So, after 6 years at our beloved Ganns Middle Valley Elementary, we'll be moving onward to Hixson Middle School in the Fall.  GULP!  Even though this transition is difficult for her, I can tell that she is embracing it because she decorated her manila folder with expressions of saying goodbye to Ganns and greeting Hixson Middle.  She used the colors and wildcat paw print primarily on her artwork.

Our church is facing transition as our senior pastor moves on to the role of D.S. (District Superintendent) and our other pastor retires up north.   We also have folks taking on full time roles from part-time ones and others getting into their roles now that the school year is over.  We also have one staff member stepping out of their role, me. 

I am in transition.  Lots of it.  As a Mom, as Director of Missions (which ends tomorrow), as a Candidate for Ordination (which is simply in transitional process as the journey continues), as a student (the semester is over!), etc. 

I would like to say that I am embracing this transition time in my life, like my daughter.  And, some days I do.  The choices I've made that have led to some of my personal transitions are choices based on my listening to God and discerning what to do.  It still doesn't make it easy. 

Some days I feel like I'm in that cocoon again, struggling to make the wings strong enough to break out of the darkness into the light so that I might be able to fly.  Yet, once this butterfly get out of the cocoon, the wings still need to dry to strengthen before I can fly.  So, whether in the cocoon or outside of it, there is always waiting time. 

Maybe that's what I struggle with most during transition time, the waiting time.  However, from all that I've read about waiting (Sue Monk Kidd, etc.), I know that the waiting time is not lost.  It is not wasted.  It is active time.

Recently, I read a post by Jerry Webber about waiting.  You can read it here: "Waiting Is A Moment Too".  Jerry was one of the faculty members at session #2 of my Academy #32.  Great blog.  Check it out!

Yesterday, at my last staff meeting, the lead pastor read from the introduction to Habakkuk from The Message.

Here is some of that introduction:

"Living by faith is a bewildering venture.  We rarely know what's coming next, and not many things turn out the way we anticipate.  It is natural to assume that since I am God's chosen and beloved, I will get favorable treatment from the God who favors me so extravagantly.  It is not unreasonable to expect that from the time I become his follower, I will be exempt from dead ends, muddy detours, and cruel treatment from the travelers I meet daily who are walking the other direction.  That God-followers don't get preferential treatment in life always comes as a surprise.  But it's also a surprise to find that there are a few men and women within the Bible who show up alongside us at such moments.

     The prophet Habakkuk is one of them, and a most welcom companion he is.  Most prophets, most of the time, speak God's Word to us.  [...] But Habakkuk speaks our word to God.  He gives voice to our bewilderment, articulates our puzzled attempts to make sense of things, faces God with our disappointment with God.  [...]

     [...]

     But this prophet companion who stands at our side does something even more important: He waits and he listens.  It is in his waiting and listening--which then turn into his praying--that he found himself inhabiting the large world of God's sovereignty. [...]" (1692)

Though not explicitly said, this speaks to me about transition and the times in our lives when we don't know what's coming next.  Living by faith is at times a "bewildering venture", yet it's definitely an awesome ADventure too!! ☺  It is comforting to realize that there are folks along the journey that will come alongside us, just as we will come alongside them.  They will pray to God for us; we will pray to God for them.  It strikes me that Habakkuk is a spiritual companion after whom we can model.  He waited and listened.... "It is in his waiting and listening--which then turn into his praying...." (1692)  When we come alongside someone, we can wait and listen, allowing our waiting and listening to become prayer.

Who have been the Habakkuks in your life?

For whom have you been Habakkuk?

Blessing on your journey!  May you be able to embrace the transitions!

~Debra