Mind the Gap

May 21, 2026
Inter-Varsity
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MEETING GOD IN THE
"MESSY MIDDLE"

AFTER GRADUATION

 
Graduating students generally expect that they will go straight from ending their degree into a job in their field. Increasingly, that’s not the case – instead, there tends to be a gap between the ending and the new beginning. This is where Launch steps in. We developed this ministry for graduating students, to prepare them for the transition from study into the workplace.
At Scripture Camp in BC this April, we had our first BC Launch track, where I gathered with a group of graduating students to examine the life of Abraham. We used William Bridges’ transition model to distinguish change from transition, with change being an event external to us and transition being the gradual reorientation that happens internally as we adapt to change. In his model, transitions consist of an ending, a neutral zone, and a new beginning.
In the Launch track, we mapped Abraham’s story by these three stages: Genesis 12 as the start of Abram’s ending, chapters 13 to 20 as his time in the neutral zone, and chapter 21 onwards as his new beginning. His time in the neutral zone was lengthy, and contains several episodes of bad choices:

  • He presents his wife as his sister not once, but twice, with painful consequences for the people he lies to.
  • He and his wife doubt God and pursue their own plan to bring about what God has promised, again with tragic results.

But along the way Abraham also learns of God’s concern for justice and mercy. Perhaps most importantly for graduating students, he experiences God’s grace, provision, and faithfulness.

  • He learns that God is gracious, as God forgives, and even works with Abraham through his mistake.
  • He learns of God’s provision and faithfulness through the gift of Isaac, and the gift of a ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac.

“I learned that transitions can be messy […] That it is not a linear path, but one that
invites us into greater experience and learning of God.” – Nat, Launch student

I have come to think of walking through transition as a way God strengthens the muscle of our faith. Most graduates aren’t called into the kind of external change that Abraham experienced, but the internal transitions they will inevitably experience can be an opportunity to learn of God’s grace, provision, and faithfulness. We may desire a simpler path for them – a short, linear walk from endings to beginnings – but in doing so we undervalue the important soul work, of growth and refinement, that can happen in this unique season.

“I have learnt that […] life is full of transitions. However, the more I trust God, the more
transitions will be easier or more manageable.” – Manatsa, Launch student

Transitions are not merely a space of waiting, idly, in-between an ending and a beginning. But waiting is hard. Abraham and Sarah’s struggle with waiting is probably the major reason they pursue their own plans rather than trusting in God’s. For some graduates waiting for the new beginning will feel painfully long. What stories of your own transitions and “neutral zone” experiences could you share with them to encourage and support them as they wait? My experience of being in Abraham’s story with these graduates is that they are helped more by the examples of struggle in transition than they are by stories of the eventual new beginning. So, my encouragement is this: be bold! Share stories of God’s faithfulness to you in seasons of waiting, not despite them – they will see God more clearly for it.

If you’d like to learn more about our growing Launch ministry, sign up for the Launch newsletter.

James Allaway
Director of Launch and Vocation

My wife Jen and I met and married in Vancouver back in 2009 while studying at Regent college, and we have three kids. Before joining InterVarsity in 2019 I was a member of campus staff in the UK and New Zealand, and before that worked in I.T. support in the UK. I hold two MA’s in theology and was a 2022 Pollard Research Scholar in the Centre for Faithful Business at Seattle Pacific University.

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