I try to experience life like I experience the seasons. There are different seasons. Each season brings something new. Each season passes. Each season teaches us something different. Each season has it's different experiences.
For the past 4 years at Impact our staff has grown, expanded, changed, multiplied and advanced. But...there have always been three constants. Justin, Nathan & Allen were consistent. No matter what each new year, new season, or new experience brought the members of the Impact, the community always knew that the three of us would be there.
But life moves, and the seasons change. God does different things in our lives. God moves us to different places. God moves us in and out of seasons of life.
This Sunday, October 4, 2009 will be Allen's last Sunday leading the Impact community in worship. This season of Allen's life is coming to a close and a new season for him and our community is on the horizon.
It's exciting.
It's scary.
It's a lot of things to be honest.
But the best way I can describe this change is the season of up-rooting & re-planting.
Sometimes the best thing for a tree is to be up-rooted and re-planted.
I wanted to plant a tree in my back yard so I went in the woods behind in my house and found a young tree that I could dig up, up-root and re-plant.
I almost killed that little tree. For the first few weeks I thought for sure I had done the wrong thing. But with a little water and the right soil the tree started to come out of it. New leaves started showing up. Life returned. And the future looks bright.
When God up-roots us and re-plants us...the reality is...it's hard! It's not the easiest transition. The future may not be laid out in front of us perfectly. We may only be able to see one step ahead. But, we're confident that this is the season that God is taking us into...so we move. We change. We transition. We advance. We trust.
That's the season God has Allen and Impact in right now. It's not easy to say goodbye to someone who has sacrificed so much and given so much to our community. It's not easy to say goodbye to what seems comfortable and has worked for so long. But, God is moving us into a new season.
God is in the process up-rooting and re-planting us and we're confident that the next season for Allen and Impact will be huge! We believe God is going to do great things in Allen's life and in the life of the Impact community. It might not be easy...but it will be rewarding.
Thanks to Allen for all his hard work and his sacrifice. He'll always be a part of the Impact family and in 20 years we'll look back and remember how he helped us create a community that didn't exist and wouldn't have existed without his commitment. All glory and honor and fame to the great Orchestrator!