To Everything There Is A Season

…not just a catchy Beatles tune

Normally, this time of year is a welcome break from all the craziness that is middle school, a time to evaluate and grow, a time to send off a class of eighth graders into the wonderful (or frightening for some) world of high school. I cherish summer for the time it gives me with my own kids as well as the time it gives me for exploring some of my own pleasures (sleeping in, reading, sleeping in, writing, laying by the pool, napping, sleeping in, etc.)

But this week was different. I’ve known for some time that this season of my life was coming to a close, and that I would be leaving a family, not just a workplace. I expected to feel a bit sad, but I’ve been excited to begin a new season, a chapter in my story that I’ve been dreaming of for years. I’m staying at home with my sweet boys, and I’m beginning an exciting adventure in publishing novels on my own terms. It’s exhilarating, and a bit scary. But I’ve been looking forward to it for so long!

So when the time came to say goodbye, and I hugged each eighth grader as they passed by me on the stage, and I watched them struggle through tears to sing a beautiful song, I wondered if I was truly doing the right thing. I’ve been so blessed in this chapter of my story; maybe it’s not time to start a new one. After all, I had a job I loved, with coworkers who I admired and students I adored. I was content.

But one of the things God has taught me in the past year, which has been full of amazing lessons, is that I’m not here to figure out what His plans are for me. I’m not supposed to try to read the last page of my story and then orchestrate everything to make sure that’s how my story goes. Because my story is His story…

What I’m actually supposed to do is love Him with all my heart and love my neighbors more than I love myself. If I seek to honor Him daily, and live in the peace of knowing His forgiveness and mercy, and I love the people around me more than myself, I’ll write a life story that will bring glory to God. And what I’ll find in the end when I read the last page, is that it’s the story He had written for me all along.

So, what I’m taking from all of this, and what I hope you’ll take as well, is that it’s okay to be sad when closing a chapter of your own story, and it’s okay to wonder about what the next chapter will hold. But remember that the point of your story is not to just make it to the end, but to fill the pages with love, friends, faith, and memories that glorify your Father and show others His love.

To those of you who have been a part of my time at Midway Covenant Christian School—teachers, parents, friends, and especially students—I hope you know how much I love you, and how blessed I have felt to be a small part of your story. God bless!