Transparent Christian Magazine

I was in a pop/rock band from the time I was 15 to when I was 20.  We found a lot of success at a young age and even got a record deal when three of our guys were still in high school.  Time went on and we started playing with bigger names and in bigger venues. Local battle of the bands and church gigs turned into full fledged concerts with headliners, itineraries and riders.  By the time we were about to cut our career making record, we found out our bass player’s girlfriend was pregnant and our guitarist was into some pretty heavy drug use.  When those weren’t big enough signs, our bass player fell and severely broke his ankle while we were painting one of the record label houses.  Needless to say, we decided to call it quits.

About a year later, a few of us were getting the itch to feel the stage again.  So we recruited a long time (since first grade) friend to fill out our empty guitar slot and our lead singer hopped behind a bass.  We sat down, ran through a few names and found a common ground on The Transition.  We were all college kids in an awkward stage of life, somewhere between having life figured out and not.

The Transition.

It was all too fitting for a group of guys who had ambitions of changing the world, but had to finish college first.  Student by day, altruistic humanitarian with a guitar by night.

Awkward for anyone.

The bands came and went, and we all have started to find our own niche.  Best friend since first grade is cutting his first solo album, drummer is graphic designing in London, singer is finishing school and hosting college radio, and I’m in Nashville writing to you and hacking away at a music ministry degree and my first book.

What I’ve come to conclude in all of this is that life is always in transition. Whether it’s moving from being single to in a relationship, a relationship to engaged, engaged to married, married to married with kids, high school to college, college to “professional” or moving to a new city for a new job or a fresh start, I’ve realized that the transitions in our lives change as consistently as Tennessee weather.  In case you’re wondering, Tennessee weather is about as consistent as my cell phone bill.  I swear I’ve never written a check for the same amount twice.  What I’ve also concluded is that in order for any of those transitions to be enjoyable and for me to experience them with the joy that God intended them to have, there needs to be some form of stability in my life.

Transitions + Stability = Joyous Life Experience

I sit down and talk a lot with friends over coffee and/or dinner.  As a part of my tithing, I use a portion to build relationships with friends old and new.  From my understanding of Jesus‘ life, he taught so much more about having a personal relationship with both him and the people that surround us than simply following a set of rules.  The idea of being saved by grace and through faith is having that personal relationship with Christ in our hearts and continuing to let it thrive on the love we show.  I have found stability in Christ.  I have also found stability in friendships through Christ.

What I’m about to tell you is something that has taken all 22 years and two months of my life to truly learn and embrace.  Ready?

God wants you to take chances.

Through all of the twists and turns that I’ve been on in my life, I have found my story to be my biggest ministry.  When I can sit down with someone and pour out answers because I have earnestly experienced and evolved in my faith, hearts can be changed.  When I embrace those transitions in my life as something that God has provided rather than a trial and tribulation, my heart can be changed.

Taking chances builds our story.

There is a part in Matthew when Jesus gets done speaking to the multitudes from a boat, and his disciples asked him why he spoke in parables.  Jesus responded to them by saying that the multitudes could not understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but that the disciples did because they were able to hear and see with their hearts.  The disciples could hear, because they knew Jesus in their hearts.  It’s funny, because when Jesus spoke about making the blind see, the lame walk and the deaf hear, we usually associate that with JUST physical healing.  Jesus was talking about more.  He was saying that by knowing Him in your heart, you would be able to hear, see and walk with the understanding of the kingdom of heaven.

Whoa.

So what does any of this have to do with transitions in life?

There is a cycle.

By knowing Christ, we let Him work through us and build relationships.  With those relationships, we find stability.  With that stability, we are able to gain joyous life experiences out of transitions in life.  With those joyous life experiences, we are able to KNOW the parables that Christ spoke of.  When we know through experience of the parables Christ spoke of, we are able to give sight to the blind.  We are able to make the lame walk.  We are able to let the deaf hear.  The speechless can have speech because of you!

I don’t know where you are at in life.  I don’t know the circumstances you face.  I know a few things though.  I know that through these ongoing times of transitions; making time for your friendships, listening to where He is calling you and allowing the gospel to be YOUR story; lives can be changed.  I know that although there are days when it seems trivial, the story you are creating RIGHT now, this day, at this hour, WILL be used.  I implore you, embrace these times of change and together, we can redefine what it means to truly follow the life that Christ calls us to.

You are loved.

J.