Seasons

A little over a week ago, a group of ladies from a church in Denver came to host a mini-women's retreat here in my city. Oh, how I loved it! I loved seeing people fresh from America, looking at their cute outfits and their enthusiasm for spending a short week overseas giving their time to the Lord. They were a precious bunch of 7 ladies spanning all life stages. They gave a few short sessions of talks to some of us who live here with the topic being "Seasons". I drank it up and wanted to share a few notes...

First off, they started with telling us that you can be any age to go through these seasons...it is not like a season of singleness or empty nesting, which are, of course, in themselves, seasons that pass quickly, but these are more seasons that relate to time of year and you can experience them at age 15 or age 85, whether single, young mom, or divorced grandmother.

Again, the seasons correlate with the seasons of the year. I loved the illustrations, and wanted to share and hope that, if you read this blog, that maybe it would help you look at what season you may be in right now or what seasons you have walked through in the past....

Warning: This will get really long!

SPRING::

• Season of peace and tranquility
• Season of routine responsibility--being in a rut
• Season of spiritual growth and planting
• Season of growing intimacy with God

Above are the characteristics of Springtime...Spring can feel like summer in the light and winter in the shade. It's a special time that God has set aside for us (as moms) to love and nurture our children that we will never get back, so take the time to grow deep roots in Spring so you can fall back on that foundation in hard times. Spring can look really routine and almost boring...you do the same thing a lot (which can happen with young, stay-at-home moms), but it's not overly good or bad, just very smooth. Again, it's a time we are not so distracted so we can spend time with the Lord to prepare for a busier season such as...

SUMMER::

• Season of opportunities
• Season of increased responsibilities
• Season of spiritual fruitfulness
• Season of busyness

Summer is when things heat up! Life gets busy, and busyness is what it is, embrace it, it won't last long. During Summer it's still SO important to spend time with God even when it's hard...it's essential. In busyness it's easy to focus on circumstances and situations instead of God's character.

The speaker reminded us of (if you read the Bible, you know this story well) the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10. I am kind of a minority in that I'm more of a Mary...I'm not so much a do-er. Oh, I LOVE to do things that are fun, but not really things that are not fun, like clean my house...ha! Well, she reminded us that Jesus did not condemn Martha for her busyness, He just asked her to enjoy Him. It's not bad to be busy, it's just how we handle it.

Some things to guard during your busy season: your priorities, your motives, and your pride.

AUTUMN::

• Season of change
• Season of uneasiness/insecurity/uncertainty
• Season of new or unexpected challenges
• Season of temptation

Sometimes change is planned or unplanned, sometimes it doesn't go as planned, but the tighter we hold onto our expectations, the harder change will be. God is right in the middle of it, He is so not surprised by the big move, the extra baby, the pay cut, the adoption, or the divorce. When we are unsure, we are lacking confidence...why? because we are focusing on change instead of God. It can be a season of temptation to retreat from all the changes, to not face reality, to be tempted to panic and respond in your own strength. How do I be willing to be IN the change and let God harvest me??

God will reveal a diamond in a season of change when you come face-to-face with Him.

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." --Corrie ten Boom

WINTER::

• Season of sorrow or grief
• Season of loneliness or isolation
• Season of letting go
• Season of brokenness

Winter is only a season...it doesn't last forever. In these hard times, choose God, stop self-pity, choose happiness, choose to renew your marriage. This sweet 79 year old widow who gave this portion of the talk shared of a wintertime in her life and said at one point she chose to make her husband laugh everyday...pure sweetness!

Trees look ugly in the winter. Winter preserves the strength of the tree (I think the sap goes down to the roots at this time to strengthen them??)...the tree can't find beauty again until it surrenders to the winter. There is a blessedness in Winter...and Spring is coming!

Pain hurts, but be real with God (and others). He can take it.

Renew relationships that have gone cold because we can hurt those we love during our winters.

Joy is predecated upon surrender.

There is so much more that these precious ladies shared from their lives that added so much more than just these few measly notes! I have definitely walked through all of these times in recent years for sure. This time in a different country has been a mixture of Autumn and Winter for me. There was so much change, only to find this be one of the loneliest seasons I've had in a long, long time. See, I was not one of those lonely new moms. I loved it because everyone was always coming over and I could easily tote the babe around with me to lunches and shopping. My loneliness as a young mom has really set in here on the other side of the world. I can't pick up the phone to call my best friends while I'm in the car, because a)I don't have a car, and b) all my friends are asleep when I want to call them. It has been a time of loss and sacrifice of giving up a home and routine (and weather) that I adored for a tiny apartment up lots of stairs with lots of dreary days, and while I'm really enjoying the girlfriends I'm making, it's hard to make couple friends with other people who have extremely busy lives. I would do it all over again...it's worth it...the pain, the tears, the lonely days, the feeling unknown and misunderstood. I know it will go by too quickly, and the memories I'm making are so fond, I can hardly describe them, but they have come at a cost. Doesn't everything?

And change is coming again! A whirlwind summer in the states along with a new baby. I am so excited, but a little hesitant. Will I be so weird now that I have lived overseas again for awhile? Will I be in touch with the culture? Will my dear friends have forgotten about me since I have been so out of sight and out of mind? Change has definitely defined the past year of our lives and will for the next coming year or two. I remember busy "summertimes" of traveling the world with my man and loving it! I remember the "springtime" of Harrison being born and lots of monotony but loving the routine...it was a nice break from busy. I think of lots of prior winters and falls with deep loss and massive change. But, again, I think that right now I am in a mix of those 2 latter seasons.

I fear this may have sounded preachy and that was not my intent. I am by no means an expert on the subject, but just loved the content matter so much that I wanted to share, mainly so that I could read back and remember it. I hope if you have read this far that part of what these ladies taught me could somewhat touch your heart and that God would meet you in whatever season you're in right now.

He's good like that.