Turning
“Gradually I decided that whenever an old reality disappears, the answer is not to refuse to do anything that had been associated with it, but rather to explore and discover what the new reality is. What did my own huge encounter with transition tell me?”
-William Bridges, The Way of Transition
Like a water wheel at a grist mill, it is time to harness the power of a free flowing resource. It is time to let all the intricate mechanisms spin and pull and grind out some goodness. The free flowing resource? It is the love of God, that flows through you and me. I’m placing a new water wheel in place to catch that flow of love and to direct its power toward the mechanisms that will end up grinding out goodness. The mechanisms?
Our home
Our communication skills
Our joy, love, grace
Our community
Our care
Our health
In three days I leave to move my parents into our home from their home of 17 years in Arizona. They are saying goodbye to dear friends and their church community as we are saying hello to sharing space and making room.
Thankfully, being a pastor has given me ample wise teachers who have harnessed the power of love in caring for family. I have held hands with wise caregivers as they prayed for patience in caring for aging parents or a spouse with cognitive decline. Walking alongside someone is not the same as walking the way yourself. And here we walk…
Today I am enjoying a quiet COVID New Year’s Day with my husband and two teenagers. I am excited for my parents to live here with us: there will be more good food, a faithful gardening buddy, and an increased determination to take Fridays off from work to have lunch with my mom instead. And yet, I am relishing this present and fleeting moment. This quiet day before we turn toward the transition ahead.
Our lives are always changing and turning. We are often not aware of it. I like how a date on the calendar draws our attention and resolve to new things. To change. To personally improve. To make healthy decisions.
Today I am turning toward what might turn out to be a greater challenge than marriage and parenting and ministry. I am turning toward the harnessing of the gifts and resources I have been given to work with connecting mechanisms so that my parents can enjoy life with greater support. If they are to spend the remainder of their days in this home, I pray that each day brings more joy than frustration. That there are more opportunities for fun and connection than there are complaints or eye-rolls. I know that God’s grace turns this wheel, and today I choose to harness the water and the wheel in very new ways.
