Four Things for the Shifting Seasons
I find myself in a new season. My hubby and I are officially empty nesters. That’s right, both the kids moved out of the house. Their rooms are bare, though the old sports ribbons still hang. Their beds are all perfect, having never been made this long. The dining room table that seats 8 is now home to 2. The hustle and bustle is no longer a reality. The snack basket no longer needs to be full. The dogs miss their best friends.
And if I am being honest, I have not wanted to embrace this new season. I have wanted to stop the clock. I have wanted to rewind and go back and do it all over again. I have wanted my kids to stick around and live close. It’s not that I don’t love my life and my husband and my calling and our home, but I absolutely adored the season of children in our home and our daily lives. If I could, I’d be one of those people who buys 10 acres and every kid gets a plot of land and we grow carrots and share meals and hang out on the front porch every night. Yes, I’d be her. But right now, I don’t get to be.
Here are four things I know about shifting seasons that might help us both:
1. We don’t get to stop the shift.
Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us,
“there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”
2. The worst thing we can do is try to fight the season upon us.
It’s not time to hold on when it’s time to let go. And boy, did my summer prove that. I made some messy mom moves trying to spend more of my energy holding onto a kid I need to let go. You can’t be mourning when it’s time to dance, friend. And you shouldn’t plant when it’s time to uproot. May we not fight the season we are in, but name it and then embrace it. Some of your and my best work right now is to simply note what season we are in.
A good farmer does not plant when it’s time to harvest, nor does he harvest when it’s time to plant. So, which is it- is it planting season or harvest? Is it tearing season or mending? Is it time for war or peace? The good Lord has helped you see. He has sent the rain, the sun, the stars, and the moon. He has sent you friends and family and counselors and therapists and doctors and wise counsel. You know what season it is. You just have to stop trying to fight it. Instead: Accept, Allow, Yield, Submit.
3. The best we can do is reflect, learn, and then embrace new possibilities.
As you shift from one season to the next, don’t proceed so quickly that you don’t look back and reflect. Your reflection will allow you to take what you have learned from the past and move forward into the future with wisdom. (If you need help doing this, I created a FREE insight journal.)
When we do this, we can embrace new possibilities with faith and anticipation. I am personally needing to look backwards with gratitude and now move forward into this new season with anticipation. What good will it do to be depressed, sad, and wearing boxing gloves trying to fight a reality I cannot change? I need to trust that the God of the universe still has plans for me. Romans 8:28 promises us “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
In case you’re holding onto an old season fighting this new one like I have been, let me remind you, while I remind myself: God still has good for you. God did not ordain your life and declare your days and write your story to just bless one chapter. God’s promises of good are not just for the past; never be seen again. God’s goodness is not limited to your “young and in love” era, or your “glow up” era, or your “when I was killin’ it in business” era, or your “when I could do what I wanted” era. You might not see it right now. You might not understand how. You might not get that goodness is on its way, but it is. By faith, embrace the new that is possible because God can make it possible. Count on the possibility of new life, new hope, new relationships, new abundance, and new good because Matthew 19:26 promises us “With God, all things are possible.”
4. We can come before Jesus, even right now, and ask for belief.
A father worried sick for his kid collides with Jesus in Mark 9. He was struggling to believe good or new was possible, so he said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Let’s pray the same:
Jesus, help my unbelief. I want to have fierce faith to believe that you can usher in good in this new season. Help me no longer hold onto the old but instead embrace the new. Help me to trust that you are good and your promises do not expire. Help me to see you show up here in this place and at this time, and help me see you do a new, good thing. Amen.
XOXO,
