Seasons of Life

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV)

Life has its seasons.  As the year turns and the seasons come round, you are reminded that all things have their time and place.  Spring is the time of new birth and new beginnings, of seedlings pushing through the ground and small green leaves lacing the tree branches with young growth.  Summer brings flowers, fruitfulness, and long lazy days with picnics and vacation and play.  Fall is a time of harvest and endings, of starting school, autumn mists, and drifting leaves.  Winter's cold brings a reminder of death and dormancy, yet even the buds for next year's growth wait on the branches in anticipation of springs warmth.

There are many seasons in your life.  Newborn babies see the world for the first time and mothers also see the world anew through the innocent eyes of their children.  Young girls dream about what it will be like to become a woman.  Young boys dream about what it will be like to become a man.  As bodies change, awkward coltish adolescence matures into graceful young adulthood.  A girl may fall in love, become a married woman, bear children, raise them, then see her children's children go through the same cycle again.

Through good times and bad, you can celebrate the seasons of your life.  First of all, remember that God is with you in every season of your life.  When the storms of sorrow tear your world apart, He is with you.  When you laugh in the sunlight of happiness, He shares your joy.  He walks with you in times of discouragement, waits with you for the perfect timing, and comforts you when sorrow weighs your heart to the ground.

Be ready in all seasons to see God's grace at work in your life.  Know that God created this natural order of life on earth.  When a season of plenty arrives, set aside the extra for the seasons when there is less to go around.  Savor your moments and make memories, storing them up for future days of reverie and remembrance.