As I sit here in my office at Charisma House for probably the last Saturday ever, getting set to pack up and move out, I can't help but to reflect on the last almost twelve years that I've been here. The faces of my coworkers. The ridiculously silly moments when no one could hold it together to just freaking decide on a book title! The pranks, the roasts, the inside jokes, the prayers, the tears, the losses, the gains, the disappointments, and O God, the meetings--I have experienced such a richness and camaraderie with this amazing group of professionals for the last twelve years. And I won't even talk about the thousands of successful products this small Gideon army has produced over these years. Simply supernatural.
Charisma House published its first New York Times' best seller shortly after I arrived, and I have seen eleven more follow. And I was still able to be here with Charisma Media to celebrate its forty-year anniversary just last month.
Listen, this so-called small niche publisher armed with a stealth crew of intellectual and creative giants is far underestimated, yet I believe that the success and value of this team will be undeniable in the days and months to come.
But the time has come for me to move on. And it's crazy.
It's crazy because it is every bit as difficult to leave as I imagined it would be. Though I have sensed a significant transition brewing for me over the last fourteen or so months, when the opportunity broke through and it was time to submit my resignation, I promise I thought I was going to die during the couple days leading up to the meeting with my boss. I knew there was no turning back.
There's something interesting that happens with transition: you literally have to leap to the next opportunity holding on to nothing of the past or you will not cross over into the next thing. I believe that to transition successfully you have to be willing to lose all that you gained in a previous season to seize what is ahead of you in the next season. There is so much about my work at Charisma House that I am personally attached to, but I had to deliberately make myself let go of it all to grasp on to what is ahead. That was scary and that was painful. Though I count it all gain, leaving still feels a whole lot like grief.
It's funny, but I called my parents and begged them to fly down and deliver the news for me. I figured I could handle the transition, but the initial telling--I almost died. But they didn't come, and I delivered the news with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. My news was received with grace, a little sadness and shock, and an enormous amount of celebration and support for the next steps that I will be taking. My last day with Charisma House is Friday, October 2.
I've basically grown up at Charisma House--physically, spiritually, mentally, relationally, professionally, and so much more.
I love Charisma House! I love the team, and I love the authors. Over the years I have built amazing relationships, grown in ways I could have never prayed for, and have been afforded opportunities and favor many others might envy.
My experiences here can never be matched.
Leaving what I consider my career home is bittersweet, but I am so very excited about this next phase of my life. I will reveal soon where I am going. You will be seeing changes in the next few weeks to my social media pages and such. So be on the look out, and send best wishes, positive vibes, and prayers. Good things are coming.
I truly believe that my leaving is making space and creating a demand on the "more" that God has for both Charisma House and me. As believers, many of us have cried out in prayer to God for more. We sense the vastness, the greatness of eternity in our hearts and we ask God for greater revelations of Himself to be reflected in every area of our lives. I believe this transition is setting up a more wondrous revelation of God--one that our beings will hardly be able to stand.
I am so excited.