Have you ever felt as if you were neither coming nor going?

You know the feeling.

You had hoped to reach a particular destination at a certain stage of the journey and suddenly an obstacle appears which impedes your progress, stopping you dead in your tracks.

You are at an impasse!

It’s the place where you are overwhelmingly and decidedly stuck somewhere between the towns called Here and There and you don’t have a map by which to navigate.

You know you are visiting the village of Stuck-in-the-Middle as your GPS declares its command to you “recalculating” and you haven’t a clue which direction to go and you are inclined to make many U-turns.

What you are experiencing can be summarized in the phrase “you are going nowhere fast!”

Everything appears to be out of whack as you struggle to keep your balance without planting face first into the ground below you.

I can whole-heartedly relate.

I do not mean to continue to beat this drum.

It simply is true.

My life, our life, over the last year and a half (perhaps a little longer) can be spelled out in one word – Transition!

Dictionary.com paints “transition” this way – “movement, passage, or changes from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another – change”.

Many months back the horizon began to cloud up and then get dark as a season of unrest at my former workplace was occurring.

It was the kind of unrest where you knew something seemingly not too good was about to happen, the writing was on the wall, and the only thing left to account for was when it would occur.

As I have related in past posts, the hammer dropped about six months ago and my employment ceased.

I was prepared mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to handle what was to come.

I can honestly say God prepared me well ahead of the turn of events and what was to come, not to mention how He has provided and sustained us financially which can be summed up in one word – miraculous!

I don’t intend to get weird on you or tell you I heard God speak to me audibly.

He didn’t.

However, as a loving father makes an attempt to connect with his child in a way in which the child can relate, so too my Father connected with me.

He spoke silently and often as He prepared me (and us) for the transition we would face and in which we are now steeped.

He spoke intimately in a way in which I can best relate.

He spoke numerically to me.

Allow me to explain.

From the start of 2014 through the time of this post, I have seen more “11’s” than I can possibly count.

Although I won’t say it happened on a daily basis, I would be lying to you if told you it didn’t occur.

There have been many nights over an extended period of time where I awoke to turn over and see the display on the clock indicate “2:11” or “3:11” or “11:11”.

As I awoke in the morning I would tell Jackie “it happened two or three times last night”.

There have been multiple times over the same span where I innocuously have looked at my watch, phone, or car display and have seen the minute display “11”.

I am not making this up!

There were many days where it happened several times a day.

One time I went to talk with a guy at church in the parking lot on a cold, windy day to see his jacket show “11-11-11”.

I lost my job on “11-10” and started the new season of what was to come on “11-11”.

Others began to send me screen shots from their phones displaying “11-11”.

I am telling you the truth when I say it has happened to me hundreds of times in the last eighteen months.

It may mean nothing to you and I can respect your position.

However, it has meant the world to me.

The “11’s” have come to signify “transition” to me in such a way that a day is ending during the 11^th hour and a new day is about to begin.

It has been the gentle whisper of a loving Father to let me know He has been there and that He has blazed the path which He has set me upon.

There has been an unending and unwavering sense of peace which I have experienced in this time of waiting and transition.

God prepares us, if we are listening, for important transitions in our lives.

We are in the midst of such a transition now as we close up shop and the life we have come to live in our current location over the past twenty-six years and prepare for many new things.

There are times I have been sentimental about the transition as it is hard to leave the familiar. I have had my moments and Jackie has had hers as well.

However, I feel as if we are about to go on a great adventure as the unknown continues to unfold into what will be our day to day reality.

All of the things we needed to occur in the timing they had to occur have been continuously answered.

Another occurred this week as we have a signed offer on our home, another signal He is listening to and answering our prayers.

There may be things you are going through which have simply dropped you to your knees (that can be a good spot if you plan talking on to God).

You may not know where to turn, how to turn, or if you should turn.

Understandable.

It’s the point at which faith wants to enter center stage.

What may appear to be uncertainty is quite the opposite.

In talking about “11’s” here is another for you to ponder:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

I am here to tell you there is a quiet beauty in the place of being neither Here nor There.

How do I know?

I have experienced it and am experiencing it!

In it, you are given the gift of looking deeper to attempt to understand what may or may not be happening.

It allows you to slow the pace, to think, and to pray.

If you are struggling with the state of being neither here nor there, I highly recommend the book, The In-Between, where author, Jeff Goins, points the reader to accept the importance that waiting plays in our lives.

Give yourself a break and embrace the place of life in which you may currently find yourself.

It most likely is temporary.

Good can and will come out of it.

You too may be in transition, but it also means you are concluding something to begin something new and potentially much better.

Your GPS will eventually say “turn left” or “turn right”.

Until then, embrace where you are at even if you feel like you are going nowhere fast!

How do you handle those times where TRANSITION is engraved on your T-shirt?

Photos Courtesy of Bruce R. Cross