In only one more short semester, I will graduate college.

I have five months before my life changes completely yet again. It is a daunting task as I begin preparing for my next transition in life. I need to find a job. I need to find a place to live. I need to somehow obtain a car so that I can drive to work in order to afford that car! There are a lot of things to keep track of, and I am nervous about many of them. It's the unknown.

Our lives are constantly transitioning, changing, fluctuating like the seasons. Spring, summer, fall, winter-- they all serve a purpose. They all flow into one another, preparing the way for the next big change. Without spring there can be no summer. Without fall there could be no winter.

Transitions affect all of us differently. Some of us find it exhilarating when our lives change and we are free to chase the next new things. Others of us are filled with dread, even fear, when change promises the unknown and tomorrow's provision is not promised. Some transition can be devastating, like the loss of a loved one or a job. Others can be seen as good things that we can rejoice about!

It's funny how much transitions in life can transition from one thing to another.

As I contemplate the transition I am currently preparing for, I cannot help but look back on prior transitions in my life. I look back and I see the hand of God on each one of them, shaping me and preparing me for the next season of transition. He has been faithful to me thus far. He has been generous and kind. Two years ago, I wrote these words. They refresh my soul as I transpose them here for you today:

"We go through many different seasons throughout our lives. The Lord uses these seasons to bring change to our landscape, to breathe new life into our bones, to teach us new things, and to grow us more into His image. But in order for Him to do so, we must submit to His sovereignty and let Him take control in these scary times of transition. We must surrender our tendency to take control of our lives out of distrust, fear, doubt, and confusion.

Maybe you find yourself going through some rocky changes and transitions in your own life. And even if not, one is on the horizon. Maybe today we can be unified as the body of believers to go through all these transitions together, with God as our Leader, Protector, and Provider."

The seasons before prepare our hearts for the season of tomorrow. Looking back can give us hope as we prepare ourselves to look forward in the face of transition. Take heart, my friends, and look it in the eye.

"Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" - Isaiah 43:18-19