Closure

Time of Transition – Podcast 132 (6:18)

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Looking back, 2024 was an exciting year for me. Looking forward, I’m even more excited for 2025. Let’s go!

Transcript

Thank you for listening to the Sabbath Cafe Podcast.
This is Episode 132, A Time for Transition.

Hi everyone! Thanks for joining us. This is Michele.

Time flies. I can’t believe that we’re at the end of 2024 already. This year went by so fast. It totally felt like a blur. So by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, I felt like I was done for the year. And so I just stopped and took a break.

And I journaled about some of the key events that happened this year just to jog my memory. And I wanted to get a big picture. And after I did that, I realized I did a lot of new and different things this year. Totally not what I expected at all.

For the past couple of years, I was mainly focusing on painting, watercolors, and I was doing a couple of other things too. So in the beginning of 2024, I thought that’s what I’m going to continue working on. But it didn’t quite turn out that way.

And back in spring, I ended up helping at my local election for the very first time. I know, something totally different. I met this gentleman at my local coffee shop. Now, we had a completely different culture and background, but when I heard him speak about his heart for the community and his vision for my area, I totally connected with it. And so I just decided I was going to join his team of volunteers.

And we happened to be a bunch of people with completely different backgrounds and cultures. We had Muslims, we had Christians, we had Indians, and pretty much all the different people groups that made up my community. And so it was really exciting and I had fun.

And most of the friends that I had reached out to to kind of share about this election, they didn’t know what to think about my new project. But it was amazing to just be able to step out of my comfort zone for a cause that’s really close to my heart and to just really connect with different people – to find other people out there where we share the same vision.

And the interesting thing is I have been praying for my area since 2022. Things were not going in the right direction. And so I’ve just been praying for God to bring about change. I just did not expect that God will bring me into the community as part of that change.

And later on in the year, I volunteered on another project, also community-based. And so I see God opening new doors and taking me in new directions and just being more involved with my neighbors and the area that I live in.

The new projects that I’m working on, that is going to continue into 2025. And so I start to see that God is giving me a new focus that is heading into the new year. So when I got a chance to just kind of stop and look back at what I did this whole year, I start to see a theme of transition, of change and new opportunities that God is shifting me into.

And what is interesting is also that I’m sensing this on a larger scale too. A lot of the friends and my prayer partners that I talk with, we all sense a newness, a time of change and transition.

And actually, as we look back and review the major milestones in 2024, I think I’m starting to see that the shift is already happening.

And so as we are on the cusp of 2025, also a time of transitioning, I just want to invite you to look back at your year, and see what are the new opportunities and major milestones that you’ve had and what are the new interests that’s caught your attention.

I just want to encourage you to be bold and to take up new projects, walk through the new doors if you get the opportunity. If the door opens, Give it a shot. Be ready to try different things.

Something I’ve learned this year is that God’s opportunity can come at any time. And this may also mean that we need to finish up and close up certain projects that we have been working on to make room for new ones. And so be mindful to see what are the areas that it’s time for us to close so that we can get ready for new changes, be ready for new people and connections.

And so I just wanted to take this chance and share about what I’ve been feeling in my spirit.

And I have to be honest, I am excited and looking forward to 2025. Thank you so much for your support for me this year. I look forward to sharing the new things I’ll be learning.

See you next year.

Thank you so much for listening to the Sabbath Cafe podcast.
For transcripts and more, please visit sabbathcafe.substack.com or sabbathcafeblog.com.

Thank you so much for listening and we’ll see you next year.

Changing seasons and finding closure (Podcast #126 and transcript 6:31)

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I just finished a pretty busy season recently, and took a journaling break. What I discovered was unexpected, but exactly what I needed to finally have closure. Here’s my story.

Download the bonus guided journal worksheetDownload

Transcript

Hi everyone welcome to the Sabbath cafe podcast.  I hope you’re doing well.  

The last couple of months really felt like they flew by for me because since January I started helping out my parents. I helped them with some part time care-taking and I also drove them to their physical therapy appointments.     

Also, my husband started a new job.  And to make things work, we had to really make sure that we’re on a strict schedule so I can help with my parents and still make sure my family’s needs are met.  And that turned out to be a lot of work for me.  Thankfully, the therapy program finished recently and so my schedule is more flexible now. 

And just reaching this milestone and seeing how my parent’s condition have improved, I was so encouraged. Now you’d think that this would mean my stress level would come down.  But for some reason, my emotions were still wound up really tight.  And so I realized that I probably need to sit down and unwind my thoughts.  So one afternoon, I had some time, and I decided to journal.

And journaling is my go to tool to try and process my thoughts anytime I feel like I have a lot of emotions jumbled together or I feel like my thoughts are going way too fast and I’m not quite sure how to change or shift them… I would purposely spend some time journaling. All I’m doing is just to write out my internal thoughts on paper.  And then, when I’m able to see what my real concerns and perhaps even uncover underlying fears,  then I’m able to actually deal with these issues and move forward.  

And what’s interesting was that as I was writing down my thoughts, I started to see how much of my heart and my thoughts still revolved around my parents and my caretaking role. I discovered that emotionally, I wasn’t quite ready to let go yet. 

Actually, their recovery process is only about half finished.  But, over and over again, I sense the Holy Spirit speaking to me that this is a good time for me to take a step back.  And God reminded me about the things I’ve put on hold, and that includes my own family’s needs. And even though I am still helping out with my parents,  it’s actually a good time for me to shift my focus back to my own life and continue down my path.  

And I find myself asking… “But they’re still in the middle of this healing journey.  If I let go, then who will help them?”  And that’s when God reminded me about what things looked like back in January… and it was pretty difficult.  And to see how far we’ve come, and how much things have improved. It just really hit me how faithful God has been through the whole process.  He was  the one who started us down this path of healing.  He was the one who took care of my family, and answered my prayers. And that He will be faithful even in the next season.  And it’s time now for me to let go of the responsibilities I took up in the last season, and to entrust my family to God so I can start my new season too.

After I had processed though these thoughts with God, I felt much more at Peace.  Even though my family’s healing process is not finished yet, I feel much more ready to release them into God’s hands.  In a sense, through this time of journaling and reflection, God was teaching me how to have closure.  Even when my emotions may not be ready to let go, but when I took the time to reflect and think back on this last six months, and how faithful God has been.  I was more ready to trust God with all of the questions I still had. 

After I went though this exercise, it really helped with my attitude. I find myself having an easier time trusting God about my family, and becoming more excited to see what new things God has in store for me. 

Often, we’d go through life changes without spending time to reflect on what happened before or to dialog with God about any questions we still have.  Even if we move into the next season, these lingering thoughts may open doors to doubts or regrets in the future. I’m grateful that God didn’t ignore any of my concerns and He helped me work though them, so I can be at peace moving forward.  

If there are any questions or thoughts from your past that often pop up, I would encourage you to not ignore those thoughts and to dialog with God about them.  Maybe you can find closure and peace in those areas too.   

And to help with that process, I’ve created a guided journal PDF.  You can find the PDF and transcript for this podcast at www.sabbathcafeblog.com.  

Thank you so much for listening and we’ll see you next time!