Reflection and Transition: A Summer Reprise

This week, Dan and his wife, Becky Allender, reflect on their summer experiences to glean wisdom as they prepare to move into the fall. During their conversation, they ponder some helpful questions. How should we approach transition? Why does God invite us to reinvent our plans? What have we gained from our last season that we can bring to the next?

On the precipice of fall, Dan and Becky share that they are sad to see the summer ending.

As they recount their summer experiences, they hope to encourage others to prize what the season has brought and carry all the benefits from it into the next season.

Dan: “It’s important for our transitions to occur with intentionality.”

Dan mentions that he is reminded of Proverbs 16:9: we can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Though he and Becky planned to camp for many nights, plans changed when Becky experienced complications with her asthma.

Dan: “He reinvented what our trip meant.”

Their trip turned into a time for storytelling, slowness, and reflection rather than activity, and they were able to restore their experience of fishing together.

Becky shares how she felt loved and cared for without need of an apology. She says, “There was so much laughter and joy…We were in tandem. For the first time, I truly understood the contempt-free marriage. We were living it.”

Dan emphasizes again that we can make our plans, trusting that some desires of our heart will come to pass, while also being ready for God’s invitation to something more.

His invitation to reinvention is always a commitment to our restoration. – Dan Allender

Dan and Becky end by sharing about their experience at a conference hosted by Jimmy McGee (impactmovement.org). They experienced a level of racial immersion that was life changing.

Dan speaks to the intersection of the work done at The Allender Center and the racial heartache we are experiencing in the country. He says, “As a believing community, we cannot simply stand back and say we’re opposed.”

Becky: “There’s no excuse not to be educated.”

The episode concludes with an encouragement from Dan to transition with intentionality by telling stories and reflecting on the steps He set for you in the last season (for your rescue and your restoration) so that you can move into the next season with more energy and joy.