The Love to Stay but the Grace to Leave:Transitions

The title of this book was conceived as I was sitting, at that time, in the passenger seat of my best friend’s car on my way to a church conference. A month after I had permanently left my local church where I had been a member for over eleven years, I was quietly meditating on the state of my present emotions and the activities of my environment. I wanted and needed to know why I stayed so long and why was I then able to leave. It may sound like a trivial and perhaps a silly inquiry but the answer was profound to me as I heard in my spirit “You had the love to stay but the grace to leave.”
As individuals, many times we stay in places and even in relationships as a result of being in a comfort zone or out of a sense of obligation. And unfortunately sometimes we stay because of unhealthy fear. However, when the grace departs or lifts, we are no longer able to bear what we did in the past. Our spiritual, emotional, psychological and physical abilities begin to diminish for the tolerance of certain people, certain places and certain things. Although love bears all things, it is not for all people or all places at all times.
This book is not an attempt to provide solutions and answers for all transitional situations. This book is intended to enlighten, challenge, provoke, guide and inform those who are or who will soon be struggling with church transition or transitioning to another place. The transition may be to another place of employment or another residence.
Transitions are never easy but they are necessary. We were born for transitions. Even with our natural bodies, God graces us to go through physical and emotional transitions. We go from infants to toddlers/children, then to adolescents/teens, and on to young adults, then to middle aged adults and senior citizens. All these phases of life carry their set of challenges, their unique identifying marks and their special moments, and each phase should be cherished.