Change, a part of life

Wow! It's been a long time since I've written something here. I took a break because of a huge change my family and I have made. In November of last year some of my family and I left a beloved church family in Montreal to begin a new journey with a new church family in Stony Plain, Alberta. As one experienced pastor advised, "Be careful about blogging because your heart will come out and you do not want to hurt those you've left and those you are joining by allowing your conflicted heart to come out, and it will." He was so right, it has been a conflicted time, greatly missing old friends, but at the same time excited about the challenges in a new church family.
This past weekend I had an opportunity to revisit and worship in Montreal and it was a wonderful time. It was great to see old friends and participate in worship with them, and it was so good to see how the ministry is carrying on and the Lord is blessing them. It made leaving them to return to Stony Plain much easier. The hard part of leaving Montreal now is leaving our children behind, an occupational hazard for pastors! Yet a corner has been turned inside me, it was an opportunity to finally let go of the old and fully embrace the new with the blessings of the old making me appreciative of both.
As I walk forward with this beautiful new church family called Hope, it makes me aware of both the difficulty and blessing of change. Change has already come to Hope because I've come, but my own heart wrestling has made me sensitive to how many may also be experiencing conflicted hearts through the changes that have come and are coming. But I have also learnt that through it all God is with us, reassuring us that through it all we are not alone and he is working the change for our good and to help us better be his presence here. I am excited about what lies ahead as we walk together, exploring who God is calling us to be and to become.
Next week I will return to reflecting on the rest of what it is to grow the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, this week I simply wanted to give you a glimpse of the journey God has placed my family and I on.