I love my job. I’m blessed to say that and really, truly mean it. Blessed to work for a company I believe in, and to get to help people every day. Blessed to work with so many great people on my own team.

And yet, we’ve had our share of ups and downs and changes, too. Just recently, we had several people I adored leave the company for various reasons.

To my bosses’ credit, they both checked in with me immediately after I learned the news, knowing I was likely to take it pretty hard.

As I met with one of them to express my questions and concerns, she acknowledged them while gently pointing out that we are at an “inflection point” as an organization, where we’ve grown quickly and been privileged to enjoy working with some amazing people who, for one reason or another, are no longer poised to keep growing in the same direction with us.

As I ruminated on her words this week, another organization I’m part of faced its own inflection point.

A group I volunteer with and help lead has used a generously donated warehouse space for free for the last 21 years to store the donated furniture and supplies we use to move in community members formerly experiencing homelessness into their new homes.

Recently, we learned we’d no longer be able to use that space and had just 3 weeks to locate a new space and vacate the premises.

Personally, I panicked. My husband and I met with a friend in the commercial real estate and development space to see if he had any leads for us, and he took the time to explain to us the different factors to consider when searching for a new home for our ministry, kindly explaining market rates for warehouse space and reminding us that we couldn’t expect to find ANOTHER free warehouse. I left feeling nervous and discouraged- how were we supposed to come up with tens of thousands of dollars for this new rent line item when we’d never had to consider it in our budget before?? Who was even authorized to sign a lease on behalf of our all-volunteer team? The questions plagued me.

We found ourselves at an inflection point.

And then, days later, one of our teammates ecstatically shared that another local church happened to have an empty building, not ten minutes from our current warehouse, and they agreed to let us use it.

For free.

This weekend, we spent the better part of two days breaking down all the shelves and packing up all the furniture and home goods from the old warehouse and moving it into the new space, and as I spun around in our new home, I couldn’t keep the tears from forming.

In Luke 16:10, the first part of the verse says, “Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much…”

This new building, which had not only air conditioning but also running water and bathrooms (praise the Lord!!!), felt like the Lord saying we had been faithful with a little and were now being entrusted with this new, bountiful blessing.

We were at an inflection point.

I feared this situation would destroy our ministry, but God used it to catalyze it. We’ve already started dreaming about new things we could add with this beautiful new space, and even as I write this, I’m smiling to think about how, yet again, I find myself at an inflection point that scares me about what will happen next, and God steps in to do something better than my wildest dreams.

Do I view this situation as a neat bow to tie up the other inflection point at my job, a tidy theological explanation on why my friends no longer work with me? Truth be told, no.

BUT, do I consider it an invitation to keep my eyes open and wonder how God might use this situation, perhaps even to do something big? Yes.

Sometimes, when things are growing, they run into barriers that cause them to change course, to branch out in a new direction. They face an inflection point.

When we notice we’re at an inflection point, how do we respond? With fear? Despair? Uncertainty? Grief? By all means, yes.

But after that, could we also respond with something new- hope? Curiosity? Faithful expectancy?

Maybe we could use these as an opportunity to ask what it could look like to grow in a new direction.

If you find yourself facing an inflection point this week, I pray it leaves you growing upwards in a new, if unexpected, direction- to a situation better than you ever hoped and dreamed.