I saw delightful comment on Facebook that says that every time you face a challenge. Think of it as a plot twist. As a writer, I very much like that idea. Authors love writing characters and have them face challenges but it’s not so fun for for us to face challenges ourselves. In our favorite book or movie, we can see characters grow and learn as they face challenges and usually they eventually win. We don’t often realize that we as individuals can do the same.

I hope the following can be of use to youth ministries, family councils, family devotionals and family home evenings. Today I’m going to talk about points of transition.

Four and object lesson, get two center blocks and separate them by about 2 feet and get a board and place it on the center blocks so that people can walk across as if it’s a bridge. Younger children may need some help holding their hand to maintain balance the walk across the bridge. The bridge can represent points of transition of going from one point to another. Sometimes crossing a bridge of uncertainty can be scary. Especially, when we don’t know what to expect on the other side. So it is for real life.

We need to consider that often times we may find a better situation than the one we left. Point of transitions can also mean a mindset. For people who don’t have a relationship with Christ, it might mean establishing a relationship with Christ and seeing how his influence can help us in our lives. The transition might be to separate oneself from relationship that is harmful or to strengthen a new relationship that is beneficial to all involved.

One thing that may help us in our transition is to make a list of pros and cons before making a decision. We would not only want to consider how each choice affects us as individuals but also how our decisions can influence our future as well as other people in our lives.

Another thing to consider in making a change is if our decision will help us improve ourselves.

I remember years ago I had a friend who is very allergic to materials around her, including the building she used to work in. A second friend of mine could not relate or understand how my first friend could be sick. Later, my second friend got mono and now sleeps two days out of three. It taught her a very valuable lesson on perspective. She couldn’t understand how someone could be so set until after experiencing her own illness.

A transition can even include our viewpoint on different principles. For example, there is a video that I watched of where someone was in the grocery store. The person didn’t have enough money to buy food. It was a fake scenario where the filmmakers wanted to see what people would do for this person. Again and again, people stepped up and paid for this person’s food and to provide support. The filmmaker arranged for some actors to ridicule the compassionate person. The generous person responded that she been in that position of needing help and she could appreciate the importance of compassion. Her own personal experience of hardship softened her heart to be more compassionate toward others hardship.

My invitation, is that when we each face a point of transition. We see how we can learn from the change in that we try to make the best of whatever challenges we face. When we persevere, there’s a good chance that the change can help us or can build a character as well as broaden our  perspective.

If you have ideas to provide this topic, please feel free to share it in the comment section this blog. Thanks