Monday's Musings - Seasons of Life - Pt. 1
I love a change of seasons. I really do.
I lived in south Florida for years. I missed spring, fall and winter. Technically, Florida may have four "seasons", but when you can wear shorts 360 days a year, the seasonal changes are too subtle. At least for me.
Now that I live in SC, I just love the four seasons. Each has its own distinct flavor. And they're about equal to each other in length where I live. But by the time one season gets a tad old, the next one peeps its head around the corner, promising change. I love that, too!
Spring shows up here on shoots of green with yellow flowers bursting into our brown world. I love all the colors of spring. Yellows, pinks, purples, whites and various greens. Including pollen green. Okay, so I don't like that color much.
Then summer enters quickly with deeper greens, reds and oranges. Along with high temperatures and bugs. Gotta love the south! We women don't sweat here. We glisten!!
When we think we can't take much more humid heat, the nights start cooling off and the leaves change to their autumn collection. Browns, reds, yellows, orange... Once the temperatures cool down, we venture outside a lot more.
Then comes winter. Winters here aren't too hard. It's never really cold for more than a few days. (Although I would love more cold!) People may laugh that 3 inches of snow shuts our city down, but we just don't have the equipment on hand to clear roads. Plus, you need more than one snow day a year to learn how to drive safely in the snow. So, it snows, things shut down. But then the snow is already disappearing by the next day and we're right back to life. Sigh. I could use a good snow day about now!
So, what can the seasons teach us? Well, the obvious comparison is that spring is like being born and enjoying our childhood. Lots of new experiences, excitement at every turn. Delight in all the changes.
Then, summer compares to our years when we find a career and have a family. We love to get out and play. Experience fun times together. Life still seems to hold all kinds of opportunities. The possibilities may still seem endless.
But eventually, fall sets in. We find ourselves in mid life. Health issues may crop up. Our parents age more than we'd like. We find ourselves getting tired more easily. How hard life has been up to this point may wear on us more than we want.
Finally, we enter our "golden years". Most of our parenting is done. We may have grandkids. If we've saved well, we can retire and travel or spend more time together with people we love. But we may definitely slow down.
Is this all there is to life? No. While the analogy fits, I believe that we can look at the seasons very differently and take strength from what they can teach us. Through out our lives, the season are constantly changing. And that can help us learn how to weather the storms and keep persevering as the bible says.
While I may be in the fall and in "mid life", I'm excited about the future. There are career possibilities opening up for me I never dreamed of. They are ministries opening up I never thought about. I may be slowing down a bit, but that's making me rather intentional in what I spend my time and energy on.
So come back next week for part 2. We'll look at how we sometimes feel stuck in one season. But there are some wonderful lessons to be learned while hanging out in the dreariness of winter. Or in the heat of summer. You know, the times in life where we want relief.
But for now, which season are you in?
Thanks for dropping by!
