How take transition head on.

Moving to a small town has been an adjustment.  Some things are hard to get used to.  For example, why in a store called Dollar General are tortilla chips $3.50?  Any change that we experience creates unpredictable consequences and sometimes we simply cannot be prepared.  But here are a few things I've learned to make change easier.

1.  Pray

I'm a pastor and although it seems obvious I refuse to downplay the importance and necessity of prayer through change, it can literally be and has been what has gotten me and countless others through transition.

2.  Decide ahead of time that your expectations are only expectations.

False expectations are hope killers.  Sometimes we expect things that we don't deserve/ are impossible/ shouldn't be expected.  Don't let false expectations lead to early burnout.

Ex:  I thought playing golf in small town would be inexpensive and that I would do it often.  Turns out it is just as expensive and I haven't played once.  Although disappointed, I have decided it's no reason to pack back up and move.  (Ok, poor example... to some.)


3.  Enter the transition asking: "What can I do to serve this change?"  Not: "How can this change serve me?"

If Alissa and I moved to Nebraska asking how this move will make our lives better than we have missed God's intention completely.  Yes God wants to bless us - but change will lead to failure and/or sadness if born from selfish desire.

Phil 2:3 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves"

Ever since we arrived here I have noticed this transition has been different and better than most previous big changes and after a few weeks I realized why.  In the past every time big change has happened in my life I've been looking out for my own interests; getting my degree, getting my first job, etc.  Not all of these were intentionally selfish, but to some degree they were.  During this transition, however, I have been careful to ask God not what's in it for me, but how can I serve this community as best I can.  Not "what do I get" but "what can I give," and somehow having an outward focused attitude makes all the inward difficulties seem like less of a big deal.   That doesn't mean it's always fun or easy - but it is all worth it.

 What are some things that have helped you make it through transitions?

Big Questions

I'm starting a new blog segment today.  These will be quick and either thought provoking, challenging, or neither (I don't like to get too tied down by things I have said that I later realize were dumb). 

As I said these blog posts will be short - but I do want you to honestly answer to yourself, or if you're really brave - in a comment.  so... HERE WE GO.

Question 1:  If you went to church today... were you more excited to go to it or get through it?

The great mysteries of summer

This time of year several things happen that I don't really understand...

1. Old men let go of their inhibitions and mow their lawns in blue jean cut-off shorts, tennis shoes, and nothing else.
2. People spend hundreds of dollars to watch lights explode in the sky.
3. Entire towns crowd on to a couple of city blocks to see poorly decorated hay wagons.

Now when you take each of these things down to the basic truths about them they don't make sense, however I believe that each has a redeeming factor.


1. The old man gets a no tan lines, so when he hits the bingo hall later he's ready to go.
2. Fireworks provides a way for whole families and even communities to do something together - in America we choose something that involved blowing things up.
3.  Parades have free candy...  that's it.


When we don't understand things its easy to judge them.  Since we have moved to a new culture we constantly see new things, things that we don't understand.  It's our choice whether we embrace them or make fun of them.  (Honestly, I have been known to do both simultaneously.)   The moral of this blog is not to judge a book by it's cover - or an old man by the length of his daisy dukes.