Seasons Change

I love fall! I love everything about it. I love the crunch of leaves under my feet, the golden hues carpeting the lawn, blushing apples on the trees, pumpkin patches, hay rides, apple cider, spicy candles, Thanksgiving. There is a special way that the sun shines in the fall - a soft, happy glow, much less intense than the summer sun. If I could make fall last all year long, I certainly would. But alas, it is not to be. Fall transitions to winter, and I have to wait a whole nine months to enjoy it all again.

When I lived in Arkansas, I would wish for fall with an even greater intensity. This northern girl could hardly bare the muggy, buggy, intense heat that summer would bring. I longed for warmth that wasn’t sweltering, for a fresh breeze that might halt the perspiration from pouring down my face. I craved a cool evening to sit outside and refresh, but the nights didn’t even cool down. It was always hot, always humid, and always bulging with insects. I wished I could skip summer altogether. But alas, it was not to be.

Such it is with the seasons of life. As moms of young children, we are in the intense part of life, enduring the heat, the pressure, and constant kinks in our plans. It is the fullest part of life. Sometimes it seems it would be nice to skip it all and move on to the fall, where the sun glows warmly, but isn’t so intense – where we enjoy the fruits of our labor, but could miss some of the heat it takes to produce it. Wouldn’t it be nice if all or our kiddos could be out of diapers, without going through the process of potty training? Or if they all were born knowing how to tie their own shoes?

But alas….it is not to be! You see, there would be no blushing apples without the intense sun to ripen them and no crunching leaves if the summer hadn’t used them first. There would be no pumpkin patches, no dried out hay, and no appreciation for the cool breeze. In the same way, we can’t skip the summer of our lives. It is the season of growth – for us as moms and for the people our kids grow into.

There’s a funny little, lesser-known book in the Bible called, Ecclesiastes. It’s not a place I’d recommend you begin reading if God’s Word is new to you, but there is a passage in there that is pretty well known, thanks to The Byrds: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot….a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to morn and a time to dance….What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. (from Ecclesiastes 3)

It is sometimes difficult for us to grasp the beauty that is to come in its time. I struggle with grasping it when I’m wrestling my four boys through the grocery store, only thinking about getting home before the migraine kicks in. Then I pass an older couple who grin and giggle at my boys, grab my sleeve, lean in close, and say that all familiar phrase (with a twinkle in their eye), "Enjoy it while you can. It goes by so fast!" I politely smile and try not to mutter my response: "Yes. I know."

The seasons do go by quickly. That is something I’m learning even more this fall. I enjoyed eleven years at home with my boys. There were days in the midst of diapers and runny noses and stomach flu that I would have done anything to be somewhere else. Now, I work full time. I shuttle kids to and from school and Lego Club and volunteer with cross country. It is fun….and a little sad. I can’t believe that season is over. There are no more nursings in the middle of the night, no more diapers, no more infant seats….and much less time with my children.

Are you struggling with this season of life? Wishing that things would cool down a bit, and you could enjoy more fruit and less labor? Maybe today would be a good time to ask God to remind you of the seasons yet to come, to help you see the necessity in your current season to produce the joy of the next. I think I'm going to do that right now!