SEASONS
The Concept//
beauty in each season
“What’s your favorite season?”
This is a common question among people, like me, who live in a place that has all four seasons of the year. When I’m asked that question I’ve found that I always like the newest season. I like the change. Summer is a wonderful time of year. I love the long, warm sunny days, the colorful, blooming flowers, the many shades of green among the trees, grass and bushes. But when fall comes, the varied colors of leaves, and the crisp cool mornings are a refreshing change! Then winter comes, and I’m ready for shorter days, beautiful snow falls that cover the earth with a blanket of pristine white, and a blazing fire burning in the fireplace. Seasons are a part of God’s big plan for our universe. What a creative God, that would provide a pattern of variety in nature! Every season gives reasons to be glad about the prospect of change.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven; a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance…” Ecclesiastes 3:1-4
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So how do we live in light of continual life change?
When I was a young mom of twin boys, I found that my instinctual response to the season of new life with two babies, was to cling tightly to each moment. I longed to hold tightly to those days, as if I could stop the passing of time. Instead, I discovered that I needed to view my life as an hourglass full of thousands of tiny sands. If I just held those sands loosely and enjoyed the experience of letting them slip through the fingers of my hands, rather than frantically trying to grab each individual sand, I would actually experience more of life. I can’t fully experience life without embracing the present. When I pause to look for beauty in the moment, I realize that each season has good gifts to be discovered.
The Design//
expanding perspective
Life is full of seasons, and no season lasts forever. God is present in each one. Once you start looking at your life from a larger perspective it is easier to discern what season of life you may currently be experiencing
What season of life are are you in?
SPRING//
Are you in a springtime season of life? Have your recently begun a new venture? Are you looking at each day with the wonder of new discovery? This is a great season of new beginnings. Enjoy life. Take risks. Embrace the newness and the excitement of a great future ahead.
SUMMER//
Are you in a summer season? Has what you’ve been investing your time and energy in starting to take off? Are you in a season of rapid growth? Do you feel like you have more opportunities than energy? Work hard, Give life all you’ve got. Don’t hold back! Appreciate the growth that you are experiencing, and lean into the challenges that come with expansion. This is a great time to focus on what is going well in your life!
FALL//
Are you in a fall season? Can you see a level of maturity being established in an area of your life? Are you seeing signs of fruitfulness? Have you developed life habits that are bringing you success? Keep going, but take time to celebrate your accomplishments.
WINTER//
Are you in a winter season? Do you feel like you’ve lost vision and purpose? Does what gave you feelings of accomplishment no longer bring enjoyment? Are you seeing an end come to some of the ways you’ve been investing your time and energy? Embrace the waiting, don’t give up on the hope and promise of the dawning of a new season. During the times of waiting reflect on what you know is truth. Enjoy the opportunity to slow down and rest rather that trying to make something grow.
The Gold//
leaning into the seasons
Out of the winter….
For the past several years, I’ve known that this has been a winter life season for me. This season wasn’t just what I was experiencing, but my husband was, too. I’m not sure if this made it better or worse! The losses have definitely been outweighing the gains. Many of the things that we had done or invested in have come to a close. Because I was keeping a journal of the promises God had whispered into our hearts, we remained hopeful that God had something new for us. We had no clue what, or how it would happen, but we believed that somehow, someway, there would be a new beginning in our lives.
Into the Spring….
We’ve now begun to enter into a new season of life. This is just the beginning. I know that the winter season had its purpose. If I didn’t let go of the old, I wouldn’t be able to grasp the new. God is faithful and his word is true! In the last few weeks I feel like I’m beginning to see the signs of purple crocus peeking through the frost on our lives. The hours of sunlight are beginning to overpower the hours of darkness. Spring has come! Promises from God that never really made sense when we first received them years ago, are beginning to make sense.
If I didn’t let my dreams die, God wouldn’t be able to give me his dreams for today. If I didn’t stop doing what worked in the past, I couldn’t start doing what it is needed for the future.
I feel the excitement of a new adventure. I know that this season will take lots of faith and courage, but we’re ready to take risks. We’re ready to invest in dreams. We’re ready to embrace the new.
Don’t miss what God is doing by being unaware or unwilling to cooperate.And, don’t waste your time and energy trying to live life doing things out of season. Don’t be hard on yourself for not seeing fruit in winter, but don’t fail to harvest the fruit in the fall!
God is always at work, but not always in the same way. Embrace whatever season of life you are in, lean into it. No matter what season you are in, God has made everything beautiful for its own time.