Seasons!

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” Ecclesiastes 3:1

The other day as I was going through the front gate of our little community I noticed that the Bradford Pear trees were budding out.  Yesterday I noticed the Redbud Tree in my front yard has little sprouts coming out! I love Spring!! But was it really just 3 weeks ago when the whole South it seemed was covered under a blanket of snow and ice?  Well from Texas to Mississippi was anyway. Where I live, we were on the fringes of it. The weather system that brought snow and ice to the south turned northward just before it got to us so we saw very little of it. Just enough to wreak a little havoc but not enough to get very many pretty pictures.   

Anyway seeing those trees bud out has gotten me to thinking about the changing of seasons. I think God was very clever and wise to bring us seasons. It seems that Spring always comes just when we begin to think we are all going to get frostbite and turn into popsicles. I love how Spring brings hope. 

Then Summer! Maybe my favorite season of all. Even though Summer in Mississippi will make you feel like you are about to melt. I love getting out a beach chair and sitting in the sun and reading a good book, whether I am on a beach or on a dock sitting by the lake. I have even sat on our pontoon boat with it docked just so I could feel it sway in the water while I read a good book and took a nap. 

And it always seems that when we get really tired of being so hot, Fall is just around the corner and our thoughts turn to all things Fall, like pumpkins and hayrides and apples and spices. The leaves begin to fall and there is a crispness to the air. 

Winter is probably my least favorite time to be outside. I do not like to be cold. But yet Winter is redeemed because it has my favorite holiday of all. I also like to sit in front of a warm cozy fire and read a book! 

I love that God gave us seasons that change. I think that there is a lot to learn from them. I have had seasons of my life too. The growing up years, the teen years, the young adult years, the raising kids years and now I guess the grandparenting years. I think one of the reasons God gave us the seasons that change year after year is to teach us that things are always changing. If you don’t like one season just wait, the next season is right around the corner. But I also think there is something to savor in every season of the year just as there is in every season of life. The rest of Ecclesiastes goes through a list of things that change. I know you have probably read it, but if not, go back and read verses 2-8 again. Let it do in your heart what I think it is meant to do. At least what God does in my heart. If you are in a season of unsure or hurt or pain, know this that it is a season and as sure as the seasons of the year change the seasons of our lives change as well. Be encouraged that even though you may be in a time of mourning if you keep on clinging to Him, He will bring you into a time of dancing again!