The most difficult transitions can be the ones where we feel like we are moving backwards, being forced back into an identity we had left behind. For me, this happened when I moved back in with my parents after graduate school. I had envisioned myself getting a fantastic job and exploring the world, only coming home to visit; instead I found myself living in the same bedroom I inhabited throughout my childhood, trying to figure out how to exist with my parents after living on my own and following my own rules for several years.

At the time, I impatiently felt that this transition was just a pointless period I had to endure in order to get on with my life. And in many ways it was, but it’s funny how your perspective of a transition can change over time. Looking back at that period of my life now, I can see how God was present in my relationships with my family – I am grateful for that time with my parents, and my brother and sister-in-law, whom I now very rarely get to see. Not to say the experience was all good, of course, but I have gained a less black-and-white perspective as the years have passed. This experience, and others like it, has encouraged me to ask more questions of my present circumstances. In a situation that was the opposite of what I wanted, God was there, adding texture and color in ways I now recognize with gratitude.

Katie Yates