Letting Go of the Old, Reaching Out for the New

There's something sad about leaving people you know and love.

I tend to hold on to people and places in my heart, not wanting to let them go.  At certain times in my life, I've felt like I've been dragged kicking and screaming into change.  Right now is no different as a major change is creeping ever closer to me, slowly but surely descending from the ethereal clouds of theory into the realm of reality.  In less than two months, I'll be packing up my bags and leaving Kentucky in order to serve as a pastor in Alabama.  Relationships that have been cultivated for over two and a half years are poised to undergo drastic change.  Activities that I have come to love, like going for a run down North Lexington Avenue, taking a walk around UK's Arboretum, and having a beer with friends in various Lexington homes will all soon fade into the mists of distance and nostalgia.  Old routines and opportunities, like Asbury's daily Eucharist, the wonderful international community, and the stimulation of formal theological education will be gone.  I'm trying, but it's not easy to let go.

Transition brings about quite an eclectic mix of emotions.  I have a sense of great gratitude for all the good friends, experiences, growth, and opportunities with which God has blessed me.  And yet the gratitude is tinged with the ache that comes from knowing that I will have to leave such gifts behind.  Then there is the excitement of the new, of possibilities, of friends yet to be made, of things yet to be tried, of all manner of people and places yet to be loved.  And yet from time to time the excitement is accompanied by the fear of the unknown, of failure, of struggle, and of isolation.  It's like being on a trapeze knowing that you're about to have to release one bar so that you can soar on to the next.

So many of my friends are in this same liminal space with me.  And I believe God is in this place with us.  It's my prayer that He helps us reflect on this chapter of life with gratitude, not regret and longing for times gone by.  I want Him to cast out all fear so we can look toward the future in expectancy and hope.  And I pray that in the time that remains, He helps us live to the fullest with the people who are such wonderful gifts along the journey.  And when the time comes, may we let go of the old in grace and reach out for the new in trust.