The wind lightly ruffled my pink dress as I watched one of my best friends from childhood start a new chapter in her life. The trees all around us were filled with green leaves giving the illusion that it was still summer, but if one breathed deeply the autumn air could be distinguished signaling a change in the seasons. Just as Mother Nature is preparing for a change so is the group of girls standing under those trees during the exchange of vows. The bride is now a wife and preparing for her life as part of a whole rather than a single entity. One of the bridesmaids is preparing to bring another life into this world. Any day now, her family will grow and the journey of multiple children will begin for her and her husband. Another bridesmaid is spending tonight as the last with her husband before they are separated for 6 months of military training. In 3 months, I will be departing the US for an 11-month mission trip and will grow and change more than I can imagine.
The seasons are changing but I believe we are all following the path God has laid out for us. The path isn’t always the same as God has different plans for each of us. God has a plan for our lives and he knows what season is best for us, how long each season should last, and when it will morph into the next.
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. – Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
We all know what happens when the soil doesn’t get enough snow or rain, there isn’t enough moisture for the growing season and the crops suffer. Just the same, if we rush through the hard parts of life or the seasons of waiting we won’t be as fruitful in the next.
As I prepare for the World Race, I am reminded this will be a new chapter in my life. I will experience seasons of brisk disappointments, cold hardships, hopeful beginnings, and warm compassion. But I need to focus on the season I am in and not try to rush on to the next. God is all-knowing. He knows the right time for my seasons to change and will help me walk down the path given to me. I must use this time to deepen my roots in God so that I have a strong foundation and will be ready for each subsequent season “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” Psalm 1:3
Love these Girls. 
