“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under Heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
My family is currently transitioning through a new season. My father passed away three and a half years ago, and just a few months ago my mom moved into a retirement lodge. My brother and I, as my mom’s powers of attorney, are currently overseeing the sale of our family home. My dad and a family friend built our home 44 years ago and no one but our family has ever lived in it. I have to admit that I felt my throat tighten when I saw the for sale sign go up in front of the place where countless Christmas dinners, birthdays and anniversaries have been celebrated. I remember the time I scratched the family car on the pole at the end of the driveway when learning to drive, and I have memories of trying to convince my parents to let me keep a horse in the basement. I have countless memories of years spent with the ones I love under the same roof.
But I’m reminded that even though our family house has sold, our family is still very much intact. My mom still provides us with comfort and support and my brother still teases me mercilessly—and I respond accordingly—as we always have. We just have different roofs over our heads.
The congregation I serve, Living Faith Community Presbyterian Church in Baxter, Ont., also has a different roof over its head. Our congregation is an amalgamation of the former Baxter and Cookstown Presbyterian churches and we moved into our new church home five years ago.
We had entered into a new season of our church life and realized that our former church buildings were not aiding us in our ministry, just as our family home is no longer suitable for my mom’s changing needs. We had entered into a new season, and that meant change. Former church homes were sold. But the church family remained very much intact. And in fact, our church family has grown. New families who have no connection to the former congregations have joined us. New traditions have been formed. New memories are being made. New opportunities are being realized. A new season has begun. Life is being renewed.
The house my dad built 44 years ago will soon become a home for a new family. New memories will be formed and new traditions will be experienced. More Christmas dinners, birthdays, and anniversaries will be celebrated in new and different ways involving new and different people. A new season has begun. Life is being renewed.
Our families, and our church families, will transition through many seasons during our lifetimes. Sometimes that will mean change. Church/family homes might need to be sold. Church/family traditions might need to be altered. New and different experiences will be had by new and different people. How will we handle that? Our throats may tighten, as mine did when the for sale sign appeared in front of my family home, but I believe that we can transition through the seasons of our family/church life with grace and even joy when we remember there is one thing that never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and he will journey with us through all our seasons, with our families and with our churches, helping us face change with grace and even joy.
About Heather Malnick
Rev. Heather Malnick is minister at Living Faith Community, Baxter, Ont.
