Summer. A time for kids to have fun with no school work. A time for holidays and family memories. A time where companies are always short-staffed whilst staff jet off all over the place paying the extortionate rates that the travel companies charge. A season of, in Britain at least, changeable weather and unpredictability.
Summer.
For the last three years it has also marked a big season of change for us. Not something people associate with Summer – Spring and Autumn are the changing seasons after all.
3 summers ago, in 2009, a potato company I worked for went bust. Don’t ask me HOW a spud firm can go bust but this one managed it. Last summer venture capitalist funding got pulled on a startup company that I was very fond of. This summer, a change again as a door closed.
Some folks might feel paranoid, superstitious or wonder what is wrong with them. Us… we knew it was coming. It helps when the big guy upstairs paves the way for you. Doesn’t mean that it’s easy, or even pain-free, but there is a reassurance and comfort in knowing that it’s part of a plan.
It’s crazy – plenty of folks have commented now about this becoming a feature of our holidays, our summers… but this will hopefully be the last one for a while. We’ve been put through the forge, honed, prepared and led to this point – we don’t know fully why or for what purpose but there is a reason and a plan, a future and a hope. This one has the feel of being the culmination of what has gone before and heralding a new beginning for us as a family.
The thing about new doors opening, is that other doors close as a result. When you walk through one new opportunity, it means that you’ve moved on from where you were.
And no matter how exciting it is to know that God is in control, it’s always sad to move on from where you are at. No regrets, but a few tears and some wistful thoughts to take along.
I start at my new job on the 5th September (hopefully – got all the criminal checks etc first :-D) and we’re already looking at where that leaves us, where we should go and when. Today was one of those small steps out of one thing and towards the next as I stepped down from the Production Department at KingsGate. I’ve had a blast in the last three years doing all sorts of crazy stuff and being able to play a part in impacting peoples lives, but this was the time to move on and to reflect on what I’ve learnt – technically, spiritually, personally and more.
The future is exciting. I’ve always said that if I picked on verse as a “life” verse it would be Jeremiah 29:11-13:
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
There are nerves – this is likely to be a time of huge change for us as a family. There is a thrill – we’re stepping into something that is coming from someone infinitely more than we are. There is sadness at moving on, but joy as well.
In the words of Matt Smiths Doctor – GERONIMO!
😉