A Time for Every Season

Years ago, at my grandfather's funeral, the pastor talked about how there is a time for every season. It is a theme found throughout the Bible. Living in the Midwest there are 4 seasons: Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring. When I lived in Alaska, I felt there were only three seasons: Summer, Cold and Really Cold.

In many ways, the idea that there is a time for every season is comforting. At the same time, I find it brings a bit of anxiety. There are many different seasons and our lives change constantly, but does this mean one season is more important than another? Does this mean I should look forward to other seasons?

In high school, seasons were separate. I played three sports and each had their season. As a musician, there was solo/ensemble season, musical season, marching season and large group contest season.  Seasons in my life also overlap and sometimes things need to be put on the back burning for a while. 

As a mom of a toddler, coaching for me has taken a back seat for the moment. As a mom of a 5 week old, this season is focused on staying home with her. Soon I will go back to teaching and my season will be as a mom and a educator.  The struggle for me is that some seasons feel like a let down.  I am 'only' a mom or 'only' a teacher.  That is where this idea of seasons really starts to bother me.  I know that my life will not always be like it is right now.  Eventually, I will be able to sleep through the night again and eventually my kids will grow up be more self sufficient. It is easy to feel like my season is not as important as what others are working on at the moment and I think this will be a constant struggle for me.

I am slowly working on accepting this new stage of life.  There is a season for everything and this season will not last forever, although sometimes it feels like it will never end.  There will come a day when I will miss the baby snuggles and miss the hilarious (albeit sometimes frustrating things) that my kiddos do.  I am trying to learn to enjoy this new phase of life and not compare my life to what I see around me.

What season are you in?  Are you enjoying it?  How do you accept this season and enjoy it to it's fullest?