Does it feel similar to you as it does to me, that we are constantly in a transition? People used to tell me in seminary that this busy time was just a season, and soon we would be done with seminary and out of it. I grabbed ahold of that for a while because it felt good. I like knowing that things that are hard will eventually end. But the more I held on to it, the more I thought about it, I began to doubt the phrase in totality. We do have different seasons in our lives, but for me, no matter what season, it still feels busy. I think what I grab ahold of instead, what helps me more, is knowing what the busy is and fully supporting the things that are taking my time and effort. If I am busy doing things that don’t fill me with joy and gratitude, I become crabby. If my time is filled with my passions, my family, work that brings me fulfillment, I find myself more capable of it.

But now, though I am doing MUCH that I enjoy and that I am passionate about, what is filling my thoughts, my time and my effort are transitions. In-person worship or online? Fellowship time or no fellowship time? Was everyone masked today or not? Am I leading in the way I am called to? Or do I need to change what I am doing in this pandemic? Transitioning to working from home again due to kids being home for COVID. Transitions back to online learning full-time. Worrying about upcoming candidacy meetings where I will find out my future as a leader in the Church. Transitioning kids to cribs, to beds, out of my bed, on to a sleeping bag on my floor. Changing rooms in our home to create newness in a stale time. Painting. Re-painting. Installing a new sink. Transitioning from my favorite season of Autumn to the cold snow. Christmas to Epiphany. Christmas to Valentine’s Day. Thinking about Lent. About Easter. UFF Da. The list goes on and on, right?

So I sit here today, on a Friday, watching my 3 year old and 10 month old play with the vent in the kitchen and wonder, and wonder and, wonder. Life feels like a constant transition. Physically, mentally, emotionally. We live, we learn, we grow. We live, we learn, we grow. We live in the present while knowing there are decisions that need to be made in the future. We yearn for stability yet seek the next thing. We seek transitions.

May we find peace in the balance of now and later. May we embrace what is in front of us today, and take joy in the what’s next. I think transitions are good, they can be! Let us not fear, but enjoy. Let us sit with those we love and just love them. And tomorrow, love them again. But let us also sit in the fact that life IS hard. Not every transition is desired. Not every day is wonderful. But I hope that some days are. I hope that I can put aside my worries enough in a day to just be. I hope that the thought of what transition is next doesn’t consume me to the point of missing out what is in front of me. Because there is much to be enjoyed right now.

Those are my thoughts today, friends. Love you all. I am here for your thoughts, too.

I see you and I love you. You are valuable,

Amanda Ruthe.