A Season For Everything

Life feels so busy sometimes, doesn't it? People love to respond to the popular question of "how are you" or "how's it going" with a few details of the craziness we feel. Never do I meet someone or talk to a friend who says, "oh you know, the usual....just waking up refreshed, spending my morning on a 3 hour nature walk, then meditation and blissful reading followed my a meal of bon bon's and berries, followed by more bedtime meditation then off to blissful dreaming once again." Maybe on The Truman Show or some fairytale.

Lately, I have found myself responding to "how have you been" with "it's just a busy season" or my favorite, "I am in the sandwich season" (the one between still having young kids who need attention and aging parents who need attention). I say this as if I have the expectation that there will be some sort of respite at the end of this time. Like the golden years or something I described above. But perhaps I am being naive. I am reminded in Ecclesiastes 3:1, "There will be a season for everything, a time for every human experience under heaven's rim."

When I was 20, I was studying abroad in France while attending The University of Alabama. Life was full of possibilities ahead. I was an athlete, I had youth, vigor, big dreams, a wide open sky....and a heart that was failing. I passed out after exiting the bus in Tours, France and began seizing on the sidewalk. I immediately flew home and was diagnosed with a serious heart condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. The next decade was a season of suffering. I could not walk up a flight of steps without passing out. At 29, I underwent experimental surgery that changed the course of my life and I fortunately, haven't passed out since, Since being diagnosed, there have been seasons of suffering and seasons of health. I have come to accept them and appreciate and love my broken heart because of the perspective it has blessed me with.

Such is life. We will have seasons of suffering and seasons of abundance. Seasons that are busy and seasons that seem calmer. Seasons where we are needed and seasons where we need. But what I have learned and what I continue to learn, is that each season is a time where God is reshaping our souls for the better. Sometimes it is excruciating, other times it is a quiet tweaking. But if we are lucky, it is a constant movement forward. A life of bliss that I jokingly described at the beginning of this post is just that...a fairytale. And honestly, I wouldn't trade my life for that one in a million years. I have grown to see times of trial in my life as a sign of God's love. That He loves me enough to teach me, mold me and develop my character.

So in my sandwich season, I am trying to count my blessings, albeit imperfectly. I am grateful that I have my children at home, safe and healthy even though it is lots of messes and dirty laundry, lots of shuttling to school and practices, and lots of homework, it is beautiful and I wouldn't change a thing. And even though my parents are aging and changing and need me more and more, I am so grateful for every moment I still have with them and am extremely grateful when I learn new things from them that I never knew. My husband lost his father years ago and he can only reflect upon those times. I still have them. And they won't be here forever.

So as you face whatever season you are in, first of all, I get it. I know those days where you just need the strength to get out of bed. I know those days where you can't wait to just collapse in the bed at the end of a long day. I know the days of feeling depleted and emotionally exhausted. Just know that this season will pass. Focus on what you are learning from it. How are you growing and what are the blessings in it? I know it is not easy when you are in the midst of the storm as I am right now. But our experience of it will be far more beautiful if we guard our thoughts and

what we focus on. Persevere my friend. You've got this!