Seasons

One thing I have always loved about living in the south is the four distinct seasons we get to enjoy.  Unlike many places, we are able to enjoy multiple seasons (even if only for a brief time).  In the fall, we enjoy the cool, nippy air, and beautifully changing leaves.  We experience the hot, humid summers.  Winter is cold and dreary...sometimes with a little snow.   The spring is warm and full of blooming flowers and buzzing insects.  As one season enters, the other phases out.  The seasons are always changing.

With every season there are both positives and negatives.  Southern summers can be hot, humid and unbearable.  Many summers also come with little to no rain which often leads to drought.  But, southern summers also mean long, lazy days--flip-flops, cookouts, fireworks, swimming, and ice cold sweet tea.   Spring is a time of a rain and a multitude of bugs. It is also full of gorgeous blooming flowers, new life everywhere you look, and cool mornings and evenings.  Winters are cold and dreary, but they are also full of warm fires in the fireplace or wood stove, fuzzy blankets, and hot chocolate.  Fall is a time where we experience the changing leaves and a cooler temperature.  It is also a time of returning to school, football games, and pumpkins!

Life is full of "seasons".  With every season we experience in life, we experience both the good and bad it presents.  There are many different seasons of happiness, sadness, excitement, change and grief.  There are seasons we love, seasons we hate, and seasons we learn to love.  It doesn't matter how we feel about the seasons, they come and they change.  

Seasons represent change.  Just as the seasons require a different wardrobe, different activities, and different way of living, so do the seasons of life.  We must constantly adapt and change to meet the challenges and demands of each new season.  Some seasons we don't want to ever pass and then there are others that we count down the days until they do.  God even tells us (warns us) about the fact life is full of seasons.  

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says:

    There is a time for everything,
 and a season for every activity under the heavens:

    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 embrace and a time to refrain

    from embracing,

    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.

I don't know what season of life you are in right now.  Maybe you're trying to finish up high school or college.  Maybe your newly married or engaged.  Maybe you're single and wanting to meet mister or misses right. Maybe you're mourning the loss of someone or something.  Maybe you're experiencing an empty nest and don't know what to do with yourself or all the free time you have.  Or, maybe you're a parent of young children and feel as though you'll never have time to yourself again.  Regardless of what season you're in, God will give you everything you need to survive it.  Just as there are times in the very depth and darkness of winter where you think warmth or light will never come again, there are times like this in life.  There are seasons that are very hard, dark, and seemingly never-ending.  But, even these seasons WILL pass and another will come.  So, if you're in a "good season" rejoice and enjoy it!  If you're in a tough season, take heart that it will soon pass and that God is with you always.  I'm praying that I would learn to be steady, to be the same, in ALL seasons--whether the seasons are good or bad... easy or tough...long or short.