Seasons:
Opportunities for Change
Why does Target assign its customers a pregnancy score?
Why do retailers pay for new homebuyer’s contact info?
Because: seasons of change turn our lives upside down.
Old habits die and new ones are formed. Routines are only routines until they are interrupted – then we are often forced to reset, reevaluate, & reengage in a completely different manner.
In 1984, professor Alan Andreasen published this research confirming this unique aspect of major life disruptions. His paper showed that people often change economic habits in response to major life events like moving, getting a new job, or having a baby; and many times, these adjustments last for the remainder of our lives.
(So, if Target can get us to buy our first set of diapers in their store, we’re likely a lifetime shopper.)
But purchasing habits aren’t the only things that change.
As we move into different seasons of life, we make more significant changes than just where we shop.
Sometimes we change social circles. Sometimes we redefine comfort zones and adjust personal habits (minor examples happen every new year). For some, we may even seek out a healthy church and look to reengage with spiritual matters.
Sometimes, learning of a new pregnancy can trigger something deep inside that tells us children should be raised in a community of people seeking more than material comfort. For others, a move to a new house might cause us to take another chance at a Sunday morning church service – hoping to rebuild community we may have left in another town.
These are just some of the positive possibilities…
…But seasons of change aren’t all sunshine and roses.
These periods also trigger negative shifts. A new job can increase stress, requiring a new coping strategy. Social isolation can steer us towards avoidance or self-medicating – Luke Simmons recently discussed this phenomenon here.
So how do we lean into the positive, & avoid the negative, when going through a major season of change?
Over the next 5 weeks we’ll address this question as it relates to 4 significant seasons many of us experience.
As we seek to pursue the positive side of change, we’ll look into:
Seasons of Friendship (…or the lack thereof)
Seasons of Hardship (…despite our faith)
Seasons of Growth (…and of dormancy)
And finally, Seasons of Motherhood (…with or without support)
We hope you’ll join us for the next few weeks as we usher in springtime. If choose to, we’ll do our best to offer encouragement, community, and practical steps to redeem all ‘Seasons’.
P.S. – If you’re new to the Queen Creek area, have experienced the addition of a new family member, an unexpected divorce, or some other significant life change that has you searching for authentic people to connect with, we’d love to get to know you.
You can catch us at a Sunday service, a mid-week youth event, or drop us a note and we can get together in the office or at a coffee shop.