Weathering Change: Seeking Peace Amid Life's Tough Transitions

"Ellis has written another exquisite contemplation; shelve this alongside her earlier works, books by Anne Lamott, and Barbara Mahany's The Book of Nature (2023)." - Booklist Review, December 2025

"In this beautiful book, Courtney Ellis brings us along with her on a journey through weather, the seasons, the land, and the inhabitants of this earth we call home. ... The juxtaposition of story and science, the natural world and spiritual growth-I will never tire of works like these. Courtney has written a book that encapsulates all of this beautifully and I cannot commend this work more to you." - Lore Ferguson Wilbert, from the foreword

If one thing is constant, it's change.

You may know it's coming, or it may be unexpected. It may be a change you anticipate with joy, like a new job, a wedding, or the birth of a baby. Or it may be a shift you fear or even grieve: moving to a new city, changes that come with aging, or a lost or broken relationship. No matter what kind of transition you are facing, change is difficult. How can you find peace and hope even when everything around you is shifting sand? How can your faith help you weather change?

Pastor Courtney Ellis has walked alongside countless people facing changes big and small, welcome and dreaded. She's found that the same two questions come up again and again: Why is change so hard? And where is God amid these changes?

Weathering Change invites you to discover how God equips us to navigate life's inevitable changes. Ellis offers rich spiritual reflections from God's created world and from Scripture that help you prepare for change and show you how to journey through it with curiosity, adaptability, and resilience.

In Weathering Change you'll

• Discover how you can navigate life's disruptive changes, big or small, with grace and courage,
• Learn deep lessons from God's creation about preparing for and adapting to change,
• Learn how to find hope and peace amid the challenges and hurts of change, and
• Use the included discussion questions to explore how these principles can be applied to your life in meaningful ways.

Ellis brings a unique perspective, blending theology, biblical narratives, personal insights, and stories from nature to illuminate how God remains present through times of transition. God's "Second Book" of nature provides deep and abiding lessons to sustain us during tough transitions-lessons we can learn from nesting bald eagles, metamorphosing monarch caterpillars, migrating Mobula rays, microscopic aeroplankton floating along with the breeze, and more.

Though change is often painful, it is also ripe with possibilities for newness, growth, and transformation. Get your copy of Weathering Change today and begin to face change with grace and courage, finding strength in God's ever-present guidance.

Courtney Ellis is a pastor at Presbyterian Church of the Master in Mission Viejo, California. She is the author of six books, including Looking Up: A Birder's Guide to Hope Through Grief. Courtney hosts The Thing with Feathers, a podcast about birds and hope. She lives in Orange County, California, with her husband and three children.