Many people refer to each day as a new page in the story of our lives. The blank page can be an exciting experience of God’s new mercy, allowing us another opportunity to live for Him.
Beyond just pages, books have chapters. They let you know a scene has changed, or that the reader is hearing from a different character or a new point of view. They keep our place in the book, and sometimes give us tidy stopping points along the journey of the story.
Then, there are longer books, epic tales and grand adventures, mysteries and who-done-its that have significant tipping points along the way. Sometimes, these kinds of books are broken up not just into chapters, but sections, parts, or ‘acts.’
These are harder breaks in the story that often mean a big change is coming in the following pages, or one happened on the page before it.
But no matter how long a book is, eventually, there comes the final page. The moment you get to type “The End.” I’ve penned those words 5 times now in my writing career, and as a voracious reader, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read them. It is both a relief and a bitter sweet moment when it comes time to say goodbye to the characters you’ve walked through the pages with.
Sometimes, the story is a series of books. I’ve read stories with two books, and others with six or more. The end of each book feels satisfying in one or two ways, but you know the full story isn’t over.
Real life often happens this way. There are significant events in our lives that mark the end of a book, but it is also a new beginning. We go off to college. We get married. We have children. We lose our spouse. We move across country or change careers.
Whatever the event or change is, you know down deep inside you it requires more than a turn of the page. You need to stop for a moment. You need to evaluate where you’ve come from and where you’re going next.
Something inside you tells you – life as you’ve known it will never be the same. You are still you, and maybe nothing in your physical world is different, but how you see the world radically changes. Or, maybe your entire physical environment shifted (Covid-19, anyone?), and you are looking out at a world that is drastically different from the one you lived only a few days before.
We’ve all had those defining moments in our lives, and if we are living and interacting with the world around us, we can certainly expect more of them in the future.
Robert and I are in one of those moments right now. It’s as if the last two years have been the dramatic climax of the story. We’ve reached the resolution, we’re settling into the exit and preparing for the section of our life. It feels a lot like our ‘riding off into the sunset’ moment.
But – real life doesn’t stop, and our journey hasn’t ended. We’ve simply reached one of those section breaks, and we are so excited to turn the page and see what God has already written on the pages of our future. We’ve moved physically into a new house, we’ve moved our jobs, and it is with mixed emotions we are moving into a new adventure in our spiritual walk.
We have had the privilege of serving alongside the staff and members of Living Water Dayton, now The Body Dayton, for the past 20 years, and we are grateful beyond measure for our time among so many amazing people. From the day a group of us met in the living room of our house in Dayton until now, we’ve seen God do amazing things. He’s changed so many lives, not the least of all ours.
But – the next section of our life is waiting for us, and we can’t wait to see what is in store for us. We have written an open letter to those we’ve served alongside, and those who have impacted our lives in ways they may never know. I’ve added the letter to this post.
Though there are many, many mixed emotions, and a heap of sadness, we know beyond all shadow of doubt this is what God has asked us to do, and we will go where He is leading us.
Love Always. Hope Always.
THE BOLANGERS
Robert and Michelle
AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR CHURCH FAMILY AT THE BODY DAYTON from Robert and Michelle Bolanger
I (Michelle) just completed a book series that finished with both a joyous new beginning and a heartbreaking ending. Throughout the series, the characters were brought together from many different places, with many different backgrounds, skills, and talents, and it took all of them, fighting and learning and growing together to accomplish the task they were called to do.
In the process, they learned new things about themselves and the world they lived in, they fought among themselves, lives were lost, they received deep wounds, and sometimes the pain they endured appeared to be unbearable.
Yet they worked together until the task was complete – no matter the cost. They did it. They accomplished what they set out to do. Together.
But, in the end, many of them were called to new territories, new challenges, and new ways of life. The pages detailing their goodbyes, in some ways, was harder to read than all the battles and wounds and losses they lived through.
In the midst of the battle, they had grown to love and respect each other and they formed bonds that would never, ever be broken.
Those unbreakable bonds were what made the physical parting at the end of the story so difficult, and that is what makes our parting from Living Water so painful.
Yet – beautiful at the same time.
We are not the same people we were 20 years ago. We are different because we were permitted to work alongside you, to love you, to encourage and hold you up. Though there are some we wish were different, there is not one moment of those years we would trade away because of the lessons and the strength we have gained from having walked through them.
We would never have made it this far without all of you. Your friendships, love, and leadership have changed and grown us in ways we may never fully understand until we are Home forever.
A year ago, if someone had told us we would be penning this letter, I would have waved them off as crazy. Then God began to move in our lives in a way neither of us expected, and neither of us searched for. If He had told us that taking new jobs, or building our dream house would lead us to this moment, I have no doubt we would have rejected it all. We’ve done it before.
Yet, one step at a time, one open door after another, He led us to where He wants us.
This isn’t goodbye, it is us moving into a new territory. We believe with all our hearts that God has something for us here in Warren County. Something the 20 years we spent serving alongside all of you prepared us for. We are excited. We are looking forward with hope, and we refuse to look backward with regret, though the pain of moving on will linger for a while.
Without the blood, sweat, and tears shed during our time at Living Water, we would not be here. But, just as Living Water has finished what she was created to do, so have we finished what we were placed with her to do. He is doing a new thing on both fronts, and we could not be more excited about it!
We will miss all of you dearly, and sincerely want to remain in touch with you.
Our front door is always open, and the pond in our back yard never closes. We want all of you to know, you are welcome and you should accept this as your invitation to stop by any time.
We stand with you. We honor you. Our lives are better because of you.
We love you.
Always.