Twenty Nine: Transitions and Trust

To begin the last year of my twenties, a friend asked me today what were my highs and lows from the past year. It was a more difficult question than I anticipated. As I thought back it was hard to believe that some of what transpired over the last year didn’t happen two or three years ago. It is almost unfathomable how much has happened and how much has changed in a mere 365 days.

It was a year of transition. Nothing stayed the same for very long, and life is just now beginning to settle into something that could be considered normal. As expected, I lost my job at the beginning of the year, but God was faithful to provide a new one. Not long after that He provided an opportunity to work in Bowling Green, which was the biggest transition of all. It was difficult to leave my friends and family in Louisville. It had been my home my entire life, and I had never moved away before without any assurance of return. The move meant meeting new people, finding a new church, learning a new city, a new campus, and a new culture. It meant living alone for the first time, in a country setting (in a log cabin of all things...). My former Old Louisville apartment became a distant memory. Where I once heard sirens now only silence. Where I once saw street lights now only stars.

It was a year of learning to trust. For all of the change, nothing came about quickly. In anticipation of losing my job I searched for months to find new work. I left that job with no known prospects, only to be hired two days later to a position which fit my abilities and was even willing to let me go to Poland for several weeks... When I began packing to move to Bowling Green, I wasn’t even sure where I was going to live. I was expecting to move in with a family with an extra room, having to put most of what I own into storage. Instead, I landed in a single bedroom house by myself with plenty of space. Those were just a couple of examples. I wish I could say I handled each of these situations gracefully, but that is an area where I am still growing. Regardless, God proved faithful in providing beyond what I could have asked or imagined. He is teaching me to trust Him in all situations, even when His timing is not my timing.

If I had to pick a high point for the year it would be just that: developing a trust that supersedes transition. Change and transition can be scary, but they are an unavoidable part of life. My life today is many ways unrecognizable from a year ago, and for all I know I will be able to say the same next year. Regardless of what happens in the last year of my twenties, I know that I serve a God who knows the needs of his people and is trustworthy in any transition.