Permission to Transition

The past two months have been a blur. First, it was Maycember with my mom’s birthday, Mother’s Day, and all the extra end-of-the-year activities for my kids at school. Band concerts, class performances, parties, and assemblies filled most of the white space on our family calendar. I also poured myself into preparing for one of my favorite nights of the year: Restore!

Less than a week after Restore and the day after my daughter finished her last day of school, we took a girls’ trip with my mom to London. We had such a wonderful time! It was so fun for us to expose Lila to international travel.

We arrived home on June 3^rd and I’m still slowly unpacking. All my clothes are put away, but my suitcase is still on the floor. I just haven’t felt ready to put it away yet. I’ve given myself permission to have a transition.

For the first time this year, I took two weeks of off blogging and sending out a post. Life had been so busy and so much of my time and energy had been focused on Restore. The trip to London was a great way to give me time off, but it also required a transition time. I needed about a week to get over the jet lag and figure out who I was and what I was supposed to be doing! I gave myself permission to do just that. I watched movies with my kids. I played games and did puzzles with them. I allowed them to be on the iPad for half the day while I took care of laundry and e-mail.

This week I’m starting to get back to work but it has been a slow transition. Having the kids off for the summer is a transition in and of itself. We’re recuperating from one school year and gearing up for the next.

As busy women, we often don’t give ourselves permission or the opportunity to transition, do we? Sometimes we feel like we must jump into the next thing right away, so we refuse to pause. Sometimes we put that pressure on ourselves and sometimes it’s from other people. Either way, we often miss out on the blessings of transitional times.

Life is a beautiful spectrum of changes. We experience so much in our days and going from one season, place, or space to another is an adjustment. Our bodies and souls need transition time to adjust to changes, both big and small. Whether it’s the big things of life, like a bringing a new baby home, moving, or the loss of someone you love, it requires transition. The dailiness of life, like a big work project, being sick or traveling, also beg us for transition time.

The next time you find yourself in a transition, remember these things:

• Give yourself permission to transition: You need time and space to breathe. Block off time on your calendar or say no to commitments that aren’t best for you right now.

• Get proper rest: Create healthy boundaries for yourself to get rest. Sometimes this means ordering takeout instead of cooking or hiring a cleaning service instead of forcing yourself to do it all. Sometimes it just means turning off Netflix and putting your phone in the other room so you can get to bed on time. We feel our best and think most clearly when we’re properly rested.

• Analyze what worked in the previous season: As you prepare to move forward, it’s wise to look back and analyze what worked well for you recently and what didn’t. Decide on the changes you’d like to make as you transition into what’s next.

• Anticipate bumps: Transitions aren’t always smooth, especially after seasons of sadness or trial. But if we learn to anticipate them and learn from them, the bumps in the road can be some of our biggest opportunities for growth. My favorite verse, Isaiah 42:16 tells us that God will lead us in the darkness and He will make the rough places smooth. Remember that God is with you, today and always.

• Honor the transition: Enjoy this time in your life as you move from one phase to the next. Appreciate it for what it is: time to assess, explore, and prepare for what’s next. We don’t always know what comes next and that’s okay. Let’s keep learning, growing and staying connected to God as we transition.

I’d love to know: what have you learned in a time of transition?