Today, one of my closest friends in life that I've walked with for about ten years drove off to live in another state some 1,400 miles away. This was preceded by one of my other close friends moving to another state just last week. Did I mention both of them are married to two of my husband's best friends? Not least of all, there's the upcoming move my husband and I are making to a new city where we know all of three people. Transitions. All of them.
Maybe I've been in denial about the impact of all these upcoming changes, but today it is settling in more and more. Nobody's life is going to look the same a few weeks from now, months from now, let alone a year from now. And while part of me is ecstatic about my own upcoming transition and everything that entails, I realize part of making a transition is leaving behind what you know and that can be quite, unexpectedly sad. It's leaving behind your "normal." It's leaving behind being neighbors with your best friends. It's leaving behind random coffee dates mid-week with people you love.
In music, we make transitions in every set. What makes a good transition? It's smooth. It's not a disruption to the big picture. You have to know when to speak and when to be silent. I find that my life transitions are not unlike the transitions I do in every worship set. I find myself clinging to the big picture: That God has good things for me, my family, my friends, my church, my future church. And I also find myself trying to discern when to speak and when to treasure things inside.
What do you do when everything around you is changing and transitioning? Your friends, your home, your church, your life... I don't know if I have one answer to that. Or any answer, really. But it all has me clinging to the Rock that never moves. All this change makes the fact that Jesus never changes more and more real to me. It also has awakened a newfound dependence on the Holy Spirit like I've never felt before.
I think the movies and Instagram want us to think transition and change and adventure is the most glorious ride, without a care in the world for the past. That's not real. You can't grab onto new things without letting go of others. But it's difficult to let go and also difficult to reach out and grab what you can't quite see yet.
So in this transition, I cling to Jesus. I cling to His unchanging ways, His unchanging love, and His unchanging grace. In the transitions, I take a little extra time to tell people I'm close to that they really do matter to me and maybe even apologize for how I've taken advantage of our proximity. In the transitions, I trust that there are new mountains, new relationships, new adventures that will be well worth the pain of the moment.
Transition is messy but it's mostly messy when you've truly been planted and rooted somewhere. And because of that, I thank God that I have people that are hard to say goodbye to.
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