Are you either preparing for a transition or already weathering one? In Looming Transitions: Starting and Finishing Well in Cross-Cultural Service, by Amy Young, you'll feel like a good friend is holding your hand as you ride the waves of change. It is specifically written for those preparing to live abroad or those coming home, but many of the truths throughout the book are applicable to any of life's transitions.
Having spent over 20 years living in China, Amy returned to the states a few years ago. She writes out of her vast experience interacting with goers, stayers and returners and offers practical and wise advice on staying grounded in Christ, packing, and the messy emotional aspects of cross-cultural transition such as shifts in identity, loneliness, grieving losses and grasping God's new plan.
Amy acknowledges the challenges of leaving "home," and yet offers hope that life will go on in spite of this transition. Throughout the book, she refers to the long-view the farmer takes of his field and the care given to ensure that it is fertile. She makes the comparison that we are to keep our souls fertile through our transition, which may require us to "let roles or locations or seasons of life die so there is space for the new to grow" (p. 12).
As someone who personally experienced a rocky re-entry after returning from living in China for five years, I wish a book like this had been available to give me better perspective on the emotions I was feeling at the time.
Amy Young was actually in leadership in my organization at the time I made the decision to go home and I remember being nervous to tell her that I was leaving China and would most likely get married and not return. I will never forget her response to me. "Life is long," she said. "The longer I live, the more I realize that life is long." Written concisely and eloquently, this book rings with the grace and peace of that statement. It is a reminder that while we get wrapped up in the momentary stress of our transition and begin to define our lives by it, God sees the big picture. His main concern is that our souls remain fertile not just for this season, but for all those to come.
Thank you, Amy, for writing such a poignant and needed book. I will be returning to it throughout the transitions in my life. You have blessed many already.
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Amy Young is currently on the leadership team of Velvet Ashes--an online community for women in cross-cultural service. She also blogs regularly at The Messy Middle.
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Related Posts:
A Blessing {for those returning}
Book Review: The Art of Coming Home
Resources for Re-entry
Introduction: 31 Days of Re-entry
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*Graphics courtesy of Amy Young Labels: book review, re-entry, transitions
