season of change.

It seems as if the last 2.5 years have been a constant season of change for me. It seems that God keeps picking up my roots, moves me to a place, lets me get settled, and picks me right back up again. In the last 2.5 years, I have been Campus Missionary Intern at Houston Baptist University, Missions Intern at Kingsland Baptist Church, a Homeschool teacher in Cambodia, and a member of the Guest Support Ministry Staff at the Star of Hope.

And God isn’t done with this season yet. He is once again, picking me up, and placing me completely and totally out of my comfort zone. This time, He is moving me to South Bend, Indiana, to purse a Master of Science in Global Health degree at the University of Notre Dame.

With all this change, comes learning curves and growth. Let me share a few with you.

#1 Change is hard, and that’s okay

The thing with change is that you’re always being taken out of your comfort zone. You’re stepping out from what you’ve grown used to and moving into the unknown. And that’s hard. It’s not always meant to be easy. And God didn’t always say life and transition was going to be easy. It might be hard, but God knows what He is doing. He knows why He is taking you out of your comfort zone and moving you to a new season. His hand is in every detail, and that’s why it is okay. I read a quote somewhere that said, “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end.” And that couldn’t be more true. Change is hard because you’re stepping into the unknown. It’s messy because you’re trying to figure out this new season you’re in. And it’s gorgeous because of the person you have become at the end of it.

#2 Change brings dependence on God

Life isn’t easy. Change isn’t easy, and when we walk into the unknown, we don’t have a choice but to lean and trust on God. When stepping into the known, you’re stepping into the abyss. You don’t know what’s there. You don’t know what it holds. You don’t know who is in the unknown. You’re walking into something completely new. And because you’re walking into something new, you must depend on God. You must depend on Him to guide you, to be your friend, to be your companion, and to be your Father. It’s a time for complete and utter dependence on Christ.

#3 With change, comes growth

With seasons of change, can come new community. For me, these last few years, I have built community, picked up and moved, and had to build community again. I am currently building community, but I know come August I will once again have to start over. Change in community is scary. Change in anything can be scary. That brings dependence on God but then it brings growth. We are being refined in change. We are learning in change. And that all brings growth. If we have an open heart to the change and depend on God, then we will grow in our relationship with Him. We will see that He is overall. We will see that He knows what He is doing when we don’t understand. And we will see that He is Sovereign and all of that will bring growth in our relationship with Him.

Change is hard, and that’s okay, but if you allow it to, it will bring dependence and growth in Jesus Christ. And that will make the season of change so worth it. It will make the hard days worth it. And it will make the whole experience worth it.