When God Transitions Your Season

A transition doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time. And, how thankful I am God prepares our hearts and spirits before He ever transitions us into the next season.

Recently, in my own life, I’ve experienced one of the biggest transitions since graduating college. After a decade of living in beautiful, sunny Los Angeles, I’m packing up my things and moving halfway across the country to Houston, Texas.

As I said, when God transitions us into the next season, He prepares us for it. So, that once the door opens, you are ready to walk through it. Had this door opened two years ago, I would have said no. And, God knew that. So, for a year and a half, I dealt with what I’ll call a spirit of transition. The best way to put it is I felt like I was on vacation and had overstayed my welcome. Los Angeles no longer felt like home and I was restless. I knew a transition was coming. But, dude, I was not expecting this. No, this, I could have never planned.

Back in January, I was asked, would you ever move out of California? I said I was open to it, but the one place I would absolutely never move to was Texas. Irony at its finest. What I’ve learned, though, is that if you truly want to live a life of surrender, you’re going to have to lay aside your plans and be open to God’s plans for your life, which usually ends up being a whole lot better. I first learned this eleven years ago when I left my home in the Monterey Bay and moved to a city I said I would absolutely never move to. But, guess what happened? I came to love this city, the culture, the people, the food… everything, but the traffic. So, here I am, once again moving to a place I said I would never move to. Thus, there’s a little hope in me that I’ll have the same heart transformation in Texas.

Now, when it comes to transitions, there are some things that no one can really prepare you for. Just like when I moved to college, I knew I would experience a lot of excitement. Who doesn’t get excited over a new beginning? But like finishing the last page of a book you’ve enjoyed, there’s a little sadness over this story coming to an end. There are heartache and emotions you didn’t see coming. In saying goodbye to a job I love, friends that are more like family, a church that has been home, and the state I was born and raised in, it’s felt a little like grief. But when God transitions your season, despite the sadness, there’s still so much peace. And, joy. I’ve learned it’s possible for both joy and grief to exist together. That’s the beauty of life.

I’ve also learned that sometimes you don’t realize how much you love a person or a place until you are having to say goodbye. It’s made me realize that I hope it doesn’t take saying goodbye to someone or somewhere to make us appreciate the gift of what’s right in front of us.

For the last two months, I’ve been living every single day with a greater appreciation for the Golden State and this life I’ve been gifted. On my drives, while sitting in traffic, I’ve just stared at the mountains with absolute wonder and delight, realizing what a gift it’s been to live next to them my entire life. During my evening runs, I’ve taken in the sea salt air and the sound of the ocean waves, wishing I could bottle it all up and take it to Texas with me. I’ve sat in rooms with my friends and laughed and played games and ate food and explored new places, all while trying to soak up every single second, not wanting to miss any of it.

As I transition into the next season, I know that I will always look back at this time in Los Angeles with fondness, but I pray that it isn’t the finest chapter of my life. I hope and pray that the best days are ahead. As Christians, we know that the best days are ahead of us, because one day, God will come back for His church. Until then, we must live our lives in a posture of surrender, willing to go where God says yes, and transition with the times with a confidence and trust in God’s plan for His church.

You see, part of transitions means saying goodbye so we can say hello to new wonders and gifts and delights.

Moving to Texas isn’t about me. Trust me, if this move was about me, I wouldn’t be going to Texas at all. I’d be on a plane headed for a cute flat in London. But throughout this transition, God made it so clear that this was the door He had opened for me. If you want to hear about it one day, we can grab coffee sometime. Even though this story and this life isn’t about us, it amazes me how much God invites us into the story, orchestrates the details, and opens doors so that we can be part of building His Kingdom here on earth. Transitions, when we let God take the wheel, help build our faith. And, in turn, help build the faith of those around us.

When God transitions your season, there’s so much excitement in knowing that He is the one writing this story, that what’s ahead is so much better than anything you could come up with on your own. So with that, I’ll say, cheers to the next chapter!