Let's be honest for a moment, I am SO excited that it worked out for this post to be published just in time for the official Fall season - YAY! Would you agree that the change from one season to another can be so beautiful? ... Well, at least that is what I hear. I wouldn’t know because I live in Florida, you know, the Endless Summer state. I’m sure I fell in love with the thought (okay, maybe it was the decorations) of fall, or as I like to call it 'Pumpkin Everything Season', considering I have never actually experienced a fall season. Well, while some of you enjoyed the last few weeks of summer (and we, here in Central Florida, were practically dead from 105 degree heat), I was already dreaming of pumpkin everything season. A few weeks ago I had pumpkins on the brain so my husband and I were talking about fall and how it would be here in a couple of weeks, and I decided I would decorate that night. After all, there’s no harm in decorating a few days early, right? I was so excited to get home and start decorating when I thought, “I should look up the actual date for the first day of fall …… (GASP) SEPTEMBER 22?!” – insert hard, crying emoji here. Well, friends, we made it. Here's to pumpkin everything season!
Don’t you find that to be true in seasons of life too? You know, you get excited about a new season of your life, a new job, marriage, serving in a new ministry position at church, having kids, watching your kids grow into new phases, or retirement, only to realize it is a lot less glamorous than you thought it up to be. I briefly touched on seasons of life in my very first (EEK!) post. My husband and I are in a season of discipline. It’s where God has us right now. Paying off debt requires discipline. Creating a healthy lifestyle requires discipline. Growing in your relationship with the Lord requires discipline (like the discipline of a warrior because you know the enemy likes to declare battles when you get serious about getting serious with the Lord). So, we started preparing, each month for a few months we cancelled one thing that was an unnecessary bill. We were simple to begin with, we didn’t have cable, and neither of us had Facebook (shocker, I know). I’ll be honest, I had the thought that this was going to be pretty easy, because we weren’t enveloped in social media or entertainment. Fast forward to a week after we cancelled Netflix, and I’m 99.9 percent sure that I was going through watching withdraws. I told my husband how nuts I was feeling, and he shared that he was feeling the same way (whew, I wasn’t alone). I could not believe that we were feeling that way. I think back to that week and cringe. I sounded so pathetic. I was pathetic. The truth is, I still am. Why don’t I have withdraws after days of not spending time in my Father’s presence? Friends, I’ll tell you why, because I don’t seek after Him the way I sought to watch Netflix every night after work. That is when I realized, seasons of life are not always easy or glamorous, and ours in particular is going to be hard, and sometimes ugly, BUT it’s exactly what I need.
As I impatiently awaited Pumpkin Everything season, I patiently await on the growth in my walk with the Lord, and what He will accomplish through me during this season of discipline. This season is just what I need (as well as accountability, but that will come in another post). Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NKJV) talks about seasons, and how there is a time for everything. No, not everything on earth is bad or sinful; however, because we don’t focus on the season we are in, we misuse the good things that God gave us, and neglect the teachings God has for us in those seasons. I encourage you to read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Meditate on it. Allow your Father in Heaven to speak to you about your season of life. Maybe you just came out of a good one, and are headed into a hard one or vice versa. Whatever it is, let Holy Spirit prepare your heart.
Everything Has Its Time
3 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; 3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; 7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; 8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
