I consider myself a
fairly patient person (I can hear my husband guffawing as I write this) EXCEPT
when it comes to waiting for food and when starting something new. Ever since I
was young, I would go from pleasantly full to starving – no in between. So, when
I am hungry, I. AM. STARVED! At these times it is best for me to wear a
sign saying, “Feed the bear. She’ll return to a human.” So, I am definitely not
patient when it comes to eating.
I am also not overly patient when I start something new, albeit a project, job, game, or assignment. When I start something, then I want to GET STARTED! Do not pass Go do not collect $200. Just “get on with it,” as the English like to say. This part of my personality is problematic in many respects: (1) I can easily leave people in my wake. (2) I may not know exactly which direction I should go. (3) I may be moving, but I’m not always making progress forward.
This means that transitions, especially, are excruciating for me. I feel uncomfortable, ignorant and disoriented. I expect things to move on to a new normal quickly, like, yesterday. My belief is that somehow I can expedite transition, thus eliminating the discomfort and disorientation. There are a few ways to do this, ways that I have, uh, perfected in all my years (cough, cough): (1) Pretend to not be in a time of transition. (2) Expect everyone else to pretend they are not in the midst of a transition as well. As you can imagine, neither of these methods allow for any space in which to acknowledge our anxiety and grief about the change. As Johnny Sears explains, a contributing author in the September/October 2012 edition of Alive Now, “We short-circuit our potential for the gifts of growth and new life that transition can bring.”
I write this as FUMC/The Open Door is in the midst of a significant transition as we begin a new chapter with a staff that looks different than the last chapter. “Different” does not mean “bad.” “Different” does, however, mean “different,” and that means transition! I believe, however, that joy trumps discomfort and growth trumps disorientation. Transition is not a spiritual desert, but is lush with the Lord’s grace. “Wait for the Lord,” the psalmist writes, “be strong, and let your heart take courage.” (Psalm 27:14)
I am so excited to begin this next chapter in the life of FUMC/ The Open Door. As we all proceed, staff and laity alike, may we not simply wait in dreary anxiety, but wait with expectant joy for the Lord to work in and through us all!
Let’s begin the rest of our story.
Rev. Stacee J
I am also not overly patient when I start something new, albeit a project, job, game, or assignment. When I start something, then I want to GET STARTED! Do not pass Go do not collect $200. Just “get on with it,” as the English like to say. This part of my personality is problematic in many respects: (1) I can easily leave people in my wake. (2) I may not know exactly which direction I should go. (3) I may be moving, but I’m not always making progress forward.
This means that transitions, especially, are excruciating for me. I feel uncomfortable, ignorant and disoriented. I expect things to move on to a new normal quickly, like, yesterday. My belief is that somehow I can expedite transition, thus eliminating the discomfort and disorientation. There are a few ways to do this, ways that I have, uh, perfected in all my years (cough, cough): (1) Pretend to not be in a time of transition. (2) Expect everyone else to pretend they are not in the midst of a transition as well. As you can imagine, neither of these methods allow for any space in which to acknowledge our anxiety and grief about the change. As Johnny Sears explains, a contributing author in the September/October 2012 edition of Alive Now, “We short-circuit our potential for the gifts of growth and new life that transition can bring.”
I write this as FUMC/The Open Door is in the midst of a significant transition as we begin a new chapter with a staff that looks different than the last chapter. “Different” does not mean “bad.” “Different” does, however, mean “different,” and that means transition! I believe, however, that joy trumps discomfort and growth trumps disorientation. Transition is not a spiritual desert, but is lush with the Lord’s grace. “Wait for the Lord,” the psalmist writes, “be strong, and let your heart take courage.” (Psalm 27:14)
I am so excited to begin this next chapter in the life of FUMC/ The Open Door. As we all proceed, staff and laity alike, may we not simply wait in dreary anxiety, but wait with expectant joy for the Lord to work in and through us all!
Let’s begin the rest of our story.
Rev. Stacee J
No comments:
Post a Comment