As we move into this new year, it is my hope-filled prayer that we will reach for and obtain a new beginning.
For many of us, 2017 has been a most difficult and challenging year . . "the most difficult part about change is not the change itself, but the process of transition from the old to the new." There is an "ending (loss, letting go) and going through the transition (neutral zone) to the new beginning can be an incredibly difficult transition." -William Bridges
"All changes . . . have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another." -Anatole France
"Though it is painful to say goodbye to what has been lost, doing so is essential. That does not mean goodbyes should be rushed or forced. It does not mean all of us will say goodbye on the same timeline (or in the same way). but, if losses are not acknowledged and grieved, individuals and communities will never get to the land of new beginnings. They will never get from what is broken to fresh hope. The first step is recognizing what has been lost." -Josh Miller
"Just because a page is torn off the calendar does not mean that unit of time has ceased to exist." -Edwin Friedman
I encourage you to journal or meditate on . . . (By Josh Miller)
*What have you lost?
*What is the hardest thing for you to say goodbye to?
*Are you ready to say goodbye? Do you need more time?
*What are you longing for? Bring those longings to God.
"Peter Steinke says the challenge before us is to not to waste our suffering. The challenge is to have our wounds heal and become scars - but, not just any scars - the scars of Christ . . . because we have chosen to follow Christ."
"Dan Allender says these scars will bear gospel fruit, if we process them well." I encourage you to listen to his podcast "When Endings Don't Go Well" at https://theallendercenter.org/2015/05/endings-4/ . . though there is mention of a divorce (as a loss), it's not the sum of the entire message . . . there's so much more to consider. I also encourage you to read the notes preceeding the podcast on the wepage.
What ending and/or transition are you going through? Are you especially suffering from the loss of your child? A divorce? The loss of a job, a friendship, ill health, unresolved issues that seem to never change? Whatever you are facing, may you we all approach this new year with faith that there is "fresh hope" just ahead, if we will be patient in the place of transitioning from what was to what will be.
I also encourage you to take time, when you won't be distracted, to thoughtfully and prayerfully consider how you might settle into your time of transitioning, accepting the reality that where there is an ending, there must be a time of transition and then comes the new beginning. May this be a year full of hope for us all!
Love, Blessings and Hugs for 2018 and ALWAYS,
Angie "a mom like me"
www.amotherlikeme.info
amotherlikeme@gmail.com
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