Seasons Change

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace... He hath made every thing beautiful in his time.

--Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

Today as we were raking leaves and getting the yard cleaned up before winter comes, I was thinking a lot about how much I love the change of seasons and how hard other changes can be. Change is inevitable, I know that. But it happens so often, quickly and sometimes unexpectedly. It can be hard to deal with it!

Chloe was a good little helper

The last few weeks I've read my grandparents' life histories and have been working a little bit on Oby's grandpa's life history. It's been making me think about my life story too. In every single one of those lives, there have been dramatic changes - tragedies, miracles, broken hearts, changes of heart, aging, illnesses - that forced them to redirect their course and come up with a new action plan.... Not once or twice, but time after time after time.

Then, as often happens in my life, just as I was thinking so much about this, a friend came to my rescue. When I came in from a day of yardwork, I opened up my email to find my friend had sent a quote about change that she thought I would like:

"There comes a time in life when something happens that changes everything. Changes the way you think, the way you act, the things you do, the things you say... there comes a time in life when you contemplate your beliefs, and you are tested. A time when your life's momentum screams to a sudden hault, and life before you know it... is over. When that something happens you have a decision to make... whether it be a decision of faith or hope, or a decision of bitterness or despair. It is a decision that will decide your fate. Most of us fear the day when something happens. We fear because we don't believe we can persevere. But then...something happens... and instead of losing yourself to despair, doubt, and uncertainty... you feel life breathed into you...you feel peace, you feel calm, and you even feel a smile... the unexpected emotions are startling... your faith...un-nerving. How could I feel this way, when something happens? The answer is simple, and so often over looked... the answer is eternal. When something happens I pray we can all see that "something" in Gods eyes... I hope that something will strengthen you, and make you a little better than you were the day before. There comes a time in life when something happens that changes everything... All I have to say is...let it."

--Author Unknown

I think it is so important to be open and ready for change, and most importantly, to recognize God's hand in our life, refining us, guiding us, and helping us. And to realize He has a purpose in all the changes we go through. This is much better explained by CS Lewis:

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the teaks in the roof and so on: you knew thatthose jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but he is building a palace."