Looming Transitions: Starting and Finishing Well in Cross-Cultural Service

I read this book shortly after arriving overseas and quickly began recommending it to my friends also moving overseas. I’m now ending my first 2 years of living overseas and decided to reread the book.I’m a pre-griever. It was so helpful to have so many of my current emotions affirmed through this book. Amy really does a great job at affirming “this behavior/feeling/etc” is normal and then giving practical action steps or things to think through. She also does a great job at giving personal examples while also acknowledging the wide range of experiences overseas workers may have depending on a variety of factors.Honestly. I may reread this book every time I have a transition to or from the field. I feel certain that in each transition, different aspects of the book will stick out to me and be helpful.

Good analogies and examples, but could have more variety of examples or share more people's experiences to apply to more people.

You need to know a few things about Amy. First, Amy wrote the book because of her twenty years of experiences as a missionary, or “third culture person” or something…I can’t keep track of the lingo. I’m sorry, I’m 47 and I still just call her a missionary. Second, she has a counseling degree, which is very evident in the way she writes — she just knows how hearts and minds work. Third, she is hilarious and quirky and authentic, if you are blessed enough to know her in person. Or can you get that sense from reading the book, too.When I heard about her book title, Looming Transitions: Starting and Finishing Well in Cross-Cultural Service, I had two thoughts: (1) Wow, I have a looming transition since we have less than six months till my hubby retires (2) Oh wait, he is in military service, so we’re not part of cross-cultural service (unless you count being from the deep South and living in the Arizona desert).I wondered if this book was for me. Oh my. Yes.Looming Transitions is about how to finish well when you are in the midst of a huge life transition. Amy examines the nuts and bolts of change — like when and how to start getting ready to pack up your life into moving boxes, or how to say your goodbyes in a way that honors relationships, or how to deal with the emotional fatigue that comes from big change. Amy explains why we struggle and tells us what we can do to make the best of things, even in our weakness.What does it mean to finish well? I think that it means to honor God and people up to the very end. Even when you might be tempted to cut and run. Or even when you are so emotionally wrung out that you cannot find nice words say, or nice thoughts to think.Amy teaches us how to remember the bigger picture, how to find much-needed connection with the people and places you are leaving, how not to get bogged down by details like paperwork or moving arrangements, and how to find God’s best, in the mess. Or, as Amy might say, finding God’s best in the Messy Middle. Looming Transitions: Starting and finishing well in cross-cultural service ...LOVED it!

Looming Transitions is a very insightful and practical book. Author, Amy Young, talks about transitions and describes the process of transitioning in terms of keeping our hearts fertile. She says “I want a fertile soul. I want to be the kind of person who is able to let roles or locations or seasons of life die so there is space for the new to grow.”Young goes on to explain steps to take to keep one’s soul fertile while going through a major life transition:1. Stay Grounded in Christ2. Laughter Revives the Soul3. Accept that It’s Going to Be Messy4. Know Yourself5. Start Early6. It’s Not Just About You7. Work Out Your GriefThings I like about this book:• This book is more than a book about transitions. It’s a how-to manual for starting and finishing well. It is insightful and has very practical suggestions on how to make the way forward smoother. I anticipate acquainting myself with it more and more as I go through our next transition coming in just 9 months.• Young does a good job providing analogies and examples to illustrate her main points. You’ll have to read the book yourself to learn how she wove finding three potatoes in a bed, Kermit the Frog, and decorating pillowcases for her nieces into her tips for starting and finishing well.• She’s transparent and real as she shared her grief during some of her transition experiences, and admitted her mistakes, encouraging others to learn from them.• Young believes that transitions affect more than just the person/people who are transitioning. So, she spends time explaining 1) how to be mindful of others and their feelings and reactions during our transitions and 2) how to help others in their transitions.• Questions. The book is filled with questions to ask oneself all along the pathway of one’s transition whether it be about being aware of one’s expectations, helping your child go off to college, or determining where God is in the midst of chaos.• Young paints a realistic picture of the messiness of transitions AND the hope we have in Jesus who never changes.

If you are looking for a book to help you transition to a other culture -- look no further.Impeccable. Outstanding. ABUNDANTLY practical.Cannot recommend this book enough.I suspect I'll read it again throughout different chapters of my life.

Just love this book. So useful for anyone in transition. Amy is real. She's lived it. As someone who's moved countries many times, I identify with so many of her stories, especially the 'raptured apartment' one. We are moving country again in 5 weeks time, and this is a very timely and helpful read. I also bought Amy's accompanying book '22 Activities For Families in Transition' from [...]. This is packed with activities and discussion starters to use together as a family in transition. I'm also enjoying being part of a 'Looming Transitions' bookclub led by Amy herself over at [...], where she shares lots of behind-the-scenes of this book.

Very helpful to read this as I mull over the last months of transition from our home in Asia 'back' to the UK. The ideal time to read it would have been 6 months before the move! But it is helping me better understand how different members of our family have reacted and coped, as well as feeling affirmed in having moved on well. Now on to 'Returning Well' by Melissa Chapman for further reflection.

A helpful resource - I got into it as I read more.