Over the next year my family and I will be experiencing lots of changes in our lives. New ministry at First Baptist Church, Cornelia. New friends to meet. New home to set up. New roads to navigate. New grocery store to figure out. New places to play.
In some ways, we will try to mitigate change by simply moving life from Beaufort to Cornelia. We've already done this in some ways by helping our daughters find new schools that resemble in feel their present schools. We've also started looking at cheer-leading opportunities, dance studios, soccer leagues, community choirs, drama groups and piano teachers. Recognizing the power of change in our lives spurs these attempts to lessen the effects of the changes.
In other ways, change creates whole new opportunities. Friendships are like this. So are the familiarities of life. Our familiarity with Beaufort, its community, its waterways and roads will not be of much use in Cornelia. We've got to find plod through a whole new orientation to live in a new community. There's no way to get around it. And while we will transition our relationships in Beaufort to Facebook, email and visits, the simple fact is that we will not see the same folks every day as we do now. There will be new people to get to know, hear their stories, and invest our lives. I think this element of change creates the most grief in our lives. Loss for things that cannot be replaced creates grief. At the same time - this creates some of our most hopeful dreams as well.
A pastoral care professor once lectured us in seminary about the power of stress in our lives. He told us there are two types of stress - eustress and distress. Eustress is stress that comes from good things - a new job, a new marriage, a new town, a new opportunity. Distress is stress that comes from negative experiences - a bad diagnosis, the loss of a loved one, failure at work. The amazing thing about both of these different types of stress is they act in similar ways in our lives. Our task for spiritual and emotional health is learning to recognize stress for what it is, seeking to trust God in these difficult places, and giving events time to work their way through.
I am very excited about God's call to serve as as the new pastor of FBC, Cornelia. The excitement in the air is incredible. The opportunity to walk the new journey together God has placed before us is only beginning. Our family is so thrilled about moving to Cornelia to help lead and be a part of what God is doing and going to do as we journey together.
With all of this excitement in my family's life and the life of the church, I recognize it for what it is - change! Change for us and change for the church. While Cornelia will be different for us, I will be different for FBC, Cornelia. I'll do things differently simply because I'm a different person. These changes will create eustress in all of us. My prayer as we all move through these changes together is that we will learn to trust God. Trust in God mitigates change. Trust puts salve on our grief. Trust teaches us to lean forward into God's future.
I look forward to continuing to blog about my thoughts and experiences as I begin as pastor of FBC, Cornelia. Feel free to comment on each blog post for others to read or email me at etspivey@gmail.com
Blessings,
Eric
Very well said Eric. I once read the book Say Yes, Say No to Change. Change can be a funny thing...you want it and you don't want it. But you can't grab hold of the future until you let go of the past. That's often not an easy thing to do. But it is often a very rewarding thing to do. Twenty two years ago I left my familiar home state of Kentucky and moved to Atlanta. As a single woman, it was a very big step for me and more than a little scary...but it was the best thing I've ever done. I've never regretted the change. I now embrace change and look forward to opening new doors, even as it also means closing some doors. I will be in prayer for your family as you make this change, even as I am also in prayer that we at FBC will be open to the changes we need to make. And I also know an excellent piano teacher...
ReplyDeleteBrenda Cloyd Kendrick
Thanks, Brenda, for this reassurance! We are in the nitty gritty stage of change now - trying to make sure we get everything done - and done right. Part of that is managing the emotional parts of the tidal wave of transition - and part is simply hard work. I look forward to connecting more! Eric
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