A New Chapter

"I've wondered, though, if one of the reasons we fail to acknowledge the brilliance of life is because we don't want the responsibility inherent in the acknowledgment. We don't want to be characters in a story because characters have to move and breathe and face conflict with courage. And if life isn't remarkable, then we don't have to do any of that; we can be unwilling victims instead of grateful participants." - Donald Miller

If your life was to be written as a narrative, how would you divide up the story? What chapter titles would you give to each of the distinct segments of your life? Who are the main characters that journey with you? What are the reoccurring plot points? Where is the story being written going?

Imagining your life as a narrative is a worthwhile exercise to reflect on your journey. We often find ourselves in new chapters of life. Sometimes we are initiators of these changes and other times unwilling participants. Nobody would have chosen the global pandemic we all went through over these last years, but sometimes you can only control how you choose to react to the stories thrust upon us. Many have taken this opportunity to reflect on their life's trajectory, take up a new hobby, connect with those closest around us, and/or focus on what is most important in life. These shared experiences we have no control over can be inciting incidents in our lives for change, development, and crafting a worthwhile story, often just by approaching it with a new perspective.

New chapters can be scary, but how they play out is often all about the perspective we tackle them with. I can think of the last few years where I chose to find a new fulfilling job as a youth pastor after years of being in a career that didn't bring life. I decided to commit to forever investing in my relationship with Amy when we got married and closed the chapter on our single lives. I continue to choose humility and sacrifice as my life, dreams, and motivation are shifted away from just me and towards Hannah and our family.

Next month, I am starting a new chapter with a new job as the Discipleship and Community Pastor at Lincoln Road Chapel. To explain it in a sentence: My job is to help facilitate learning and growth in the community. I will primarily be doing this by developing and teaching different classes, equipping small group leaders, creating content for those small groups, and I will be joining the teaching team. I am feeling a wide range of emotions. It's a mix of excitement for this new opportunity to use some of my skills and giftings, some fear of the unknown and leaving what I was comfortable doing, and some sadness about leaving a community I care about deeply.

As I'm moving towards this new chapter of my life, I'm excited to see how it aligns with God's narrative that He is writing. All throughout scripture and history, we see God weaving a masterpiece story that leads us to Him, that leads us to Jesus. How amazing it is to serve a God that invites us to participate in the story He is telling, who chooses to partner with us to be His agents in the world. I also don't think it's a coincidence that Jesus LOVED to tell stories in His teaching and interactions; there is just something compelling about a good story.

Whatever chapter of your life you find yourself living now, know a few things: it will change, you're not alone, and you're part of a bigger story. New chapters begin, and old chapters come to a close. Sometimes we have no control over this other than how we can react to it, but changes will always happen in our lives. As we experience these chapters, fill your story with great people who want to celebrate you and see you succeed in life, people who love you for you, and those who challenge and push you when you need it but support you as well. It's often the connections and relationships in life that leave us with our favourite stories. Lastly, God is working all around you and inviting you into what He has going on. Not only that, but He's inviting you to join with others as we are united under a common mission. I don't know what your part in the story might be, but I can promise you there is no better story to be part of!

"If I have a hope, it's that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story and put us in with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, "Enjoy your place in my story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you." - Donald Miller