Journey of Transition and Transformation

Well, the message this morning is obvious. The items left at the curb proclaim it loud and clear. Someone in this house grew up. A baby car seat, a tiny scooter and a little toy car. Someone passed a milestone, or perhaps someone had a growth spurt and now they are too big to fit in these companions from days just recently passed. Either way, someone in this house grew up.

We all accumulate things along the journey. All of them meet a need or a desire at the time. They fit us at the moment. Often we find it poi hard to let go. Sometimes we hang on tight and drag things along with us, long after they serve their purpose or meet our need. It is sometimes so hard to let go and place at the curb the things that we should leave behind.

The Apostle writes, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” I’m glad the writer didn’t say exactly how this happens or give a timeline for when this transformation should unfold. No, we just hear something that we already know is true; along the way we move from being a child and begin being an adult.

We are all on that journey of transition and transformation. Perhaps it would help us think of the giving up of our childish things, not so much as a loss, but as making room for that which we have need in this chapter of our lives. We need room for the things that fit us now, that meet the needs of this day, that match the desires of our older, and hopefully, our now wiser hearts. May we never lose the memories of childhood, and may we never lose our childlike sense of wonder and joy. But, at the same time, may we carry these treasures with us into the next chapter of our lives as we put away the old and take up the new.

Peace.