Seasons

by Oct 20, 2017Easy and Light

Seasons

He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.

Psalm 104:19 (NIV)

This week, as the temperature dropped, we got the first taste of fall. It’s the crispness of the air outside contrasted with the cozy warmth of our home. It’s trading flip-flops for boots. It’s a time to revel in the beauty of God’s creation outside and also a time to gather with our loved ones and share a warm meal inside. It’s the dying of plants in anticipation of rebirth in the spring. When my oldest was in kindergarten, she learned about the different seasons. She was very, very excited about the first day of fall. I was certain, she’d be disappointed with her expectations set so high. When the day came, she wore her “special fall dress,” with leaves on it. That morning before she woke, I went outside and raked every leaf in the front yard into a pile. After breakfast I walked her outside to see it. The look on her face was priceless. “It happened!” she exclaimed as she jumped in the leaves and tossed them in the air, “Fall came!” Later that afternoon, she grumpily complained that we couldn’t swim anymore. “It’s not fair Mommy, we should get to have fall and summer together!” At the time, I laughed and gave her a reassuring hug that fall would be full of fun new things.
God help me to trust that you know exactly what I need. I’m trusting you that there will be good that comes from this season, even when it’s disguised as something bad. I will thank you for the good and I will glorify you in the bad. I will seek out the good in this new season. I will search for it. I will thank you for it.

My family has been in a season of change. This story came to my mind, and I am strongly aware that I am often just like my kindergartner. I want it all. The old and the new at the same time. Change can be scary; it’s the unknowns, the leaving of the familiar. Other times these same unknowns can be exciting; the anticipation of the new. Most times they are a combination of both. Often God gives us experiences for just a season. Friendships change, careers shift; we experience times of solitude and times of community. Raising a family. Health and sickness. Birth and death. Even places we call home.

I’ve found in my own life there are many times I want to hold on and cling to the past even though the season is clearly ending. I don’t like endings. There is comfort in the familiar. Maybe you’ve felt the same? It comes down to trust. Trust that God has something new and better for me. If I’m so focused on clinging to the past, I can’t fully experience all that the present has for me. This new season may be different. It may look nothing like I imagined. It may be difficult or sad. It may be full of joy that I didn’t even know was possible. It takes trust to loosen our grip on the old so that we are free to grasp the new with both hands.

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