Ah, the end of another year, with all the trimmings of trees, twinkling of lights, and the sound of Christmas carols in every store. It is a favorite time of year as we watch with wonder the changes all around us, as it seems we collectively move together into a season of good cheer and well-doing toward one another. Even as we are decorating, celebrating, and enjoying, the theme that keeps ruminating in my heart is season.
To me, the term season is more than just “Christmas time.” It’s about the seasonality of life, the influence I have on those around me and the influence of others that I get to enjoy. It’s about this season of my life that will be gone and changed into a new season before I know or recognize it. That thought has been a recurring theme for me throughout this school year.
You know what I mean, right? Thinking back on so many planned and unplanned changes over the years, it brings me to a front of mind recognition that I cannot make things stay the same, and that that is actually a good thing! I can give my best in this particular season because I know it is rather short. I may not have the opportunity to speak to these students again another year. To support and partner with their parents again. To have access to say or experience that thing with friends and family again. Am I taking the opportunities God has given me and really utilizing them for His purposes? Am I enjoying the gifts of community and exhortation as they are given?
This leads me to the next thought, which is transition and change… some of my least favorite things! It often comes with strife or challenge as growth occurs, or it’s just… different. No real good or bad to it, just not the same. But then, I look back at years of changes, in myself and those around me, and I can see the good work that God was doing along the way. I see growth and its remaining effects. I see the profit of habits, boundaries, and training that was intentional. I hear news from old friends of how their life was shaped by a season-long past. I start to see the beauty of my little part of the patchwork quilt God is crafting around me and realize that even through transitions and seasons that move so quickly, God’s goodness is ever-present and He is constantly working all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28).
My hope is that no matter where we find ourselves, at work, in a friendship, working through an age and stage of parenting our children, we take time to consider what the gifts are right now. Where can we invest in those around us? How can we really enjoy the momentary season we are in? Because the season will have become something new before we know it.