It’s that time of year when social media reminds me that summer break is ending, and the school year is beginning. Friends with school-age children have started posting “first day of school” pictures, saying goodbye to summer break and hello to the school year rush.
Whenever we move into a new phase in our lives, whether it’s the new school year, a new job, or a change in the season, we may find ourselves wondering where God is in this. We may ask ourselves if we are making the right choice, if we shouldn’t have just stayed where we were.
Yet, we can delight in learning about our past, and we can delight in what God is doing now. We can be ready for a new phase in life and be sad about things changing.
Through it all, what remains steady is the loving presence of God. God’s constancy helps us change and adapt to the world. Fears and anxieties need no longer dictate our lives. We can release them to God, trusting that through the tears and worries and doubts, God has always and will always be with us.
This message is excerpted from “The first day” by Jenna Pulkowski in the September 2018 Café online magazine.
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