Monday, May 28, 2012

do you know what season you're in?

We use the word “seasons” loosely in Montana.  For example, here’s a test.  Look at this picture:



Now look at this picture:



Winter or spring?   

These pictures were both taken from my backyard on May 26.  So we’re watering our tomato plants and then bringing them in at night because the temperatures are still dipping below freezing.    

It’s confusing to a person’s psyche.  I told my friend, It feels like fall.  She replied desperately, No!  It’s spring!  It’s spring!  It’s spring! 

All year I’ve enjoyed watching my daughter as a senior, but a few weeks ago I woke up one morning and a weight of grief settled on me as I thought about her leaving home.  Life stopped, and I cried for a week, just one week.  I told my husband I thought I might never stop crying.  He asked what he could do, and I said nothing, I just have to go through it.  A season of grief. 

I was talking to my daughter this week and said, You know, when this insane last semester of high school is over –all the tests, projects, dozens of scholarship applications, events to attend, anxiety about college prep –when it’s all over we’re probably going to feel a little lost and depressed for a few days. You can’t just go and go and go and go for a long time without having a season of coming down at the end of it.

My mother-in-law used to encourage me about seasons when my kids were little.  When I was saying no to a toddler 500 billion times every day, she would say, It’s just a stage.  It will pass.  It was a season of discipline that I have enjoyed the benefits of for many years now. 

The encouraging word from the Bible is that seasons are normal.  There are seasons of rest and playing.  There are seasons of crying.  There are seasons of busy achieving.  There are tired, rest-and-recuperate-from-it seasons.  There are satisfied, finally-achieved-it celebratory seasons and restless, I-want-more-in-life seasons.

There’s a time for everything.  What season of life are you in right now? 

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There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrance and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. 
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

 

1 comment:

  1. I am constantly trying to remember to enjoy and appreciate each sweet season!

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