Seasons

As an almost 70 year old granny, I’ve seen lots of seasons come and go, and regardless of the season, my favorite times are always the ones spent on our back porch with a grandchild in my lap.  Because we had our sons late in life, we have our little grands waayyyyy late in our life – but we wouldn’t have it any other way!  As I enter my second childhood, my littles are experiencing their first, and that makes the playing field pretty even!

So set your GPS to “happy place” and that’s where you’ll find me!!  Oh my goodness, there’s nothing so intoxicating to me as the faint smell of wood smoke, the crispness in the air, the spider webs that glisten in the cool morning dew, the changing leaves.  I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.  Our back porch is ready and waiting for the first fire pit night, and this just could be the night.

Because of the carefully selected title for this column, I feel it necessary to tell you just a little bit about not only our porch but our grands as well – and I would LOVE it if you’d share a little bit about yours too!  Grand #1 is almost 7 and came to us at such a perfect time in our lives; isn’t God’s timing the best!!  I had just retired from a long career as a nurse and needed something to turn those nurturing needs toward, and God had a plan!  Grand #2 just turned two and embodies everything you’ve ever heard about a two year old.  Oh how he blesses our hearts!  Grand #3 is our little miracle, and someday I’ll tell you more about his miraculous start in life.  And last but not least is Grand #4 who hasn’t made her entrance into this world yet, but we love her so so so much already.  God has truly blessed our lives in so many ways, and through this column I hope to share some of the ways that God has manifested Himself, even – and especially, – in our greatest times of need.  And …… even those back porch mornings, regardless of the season, can be pretty spectacular having a cuppa coffee and a chat with The Creator Of The Universe!!

So let’s just think about the seasons and what they have come to mean in our lives.  And although the seasons of our lives usually do not come in chronological order for most of us, we will experience them all, multiple times, sooner or later.

SPRING:

We think of springtime as a season of renewing, refreshing.  New growth.  Planting seeds in an already cultivated ground.  These are the things that the Lord encouraged as He walked and talked with His disciples.  In the early days of our new walk with Jesus, the season of springtime is a joyful time.  When David had gone through his bleakest season of his winter, he pleaded with the Lord to restore to him the joy of His salvation.  A new start.  There is nothing quite so promising as a fresh new start, and our gracious Lord is standing ready and waiting.  

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

SUMMER:

And isn’t it just like satan (I refuse to capitalize his name!) to lead us off track after experiencing the beauty of a springtime with the Lord.  The crafty devil will take us through a dry and barren summertime, sometimes causing us to doubt all that we once held so dear.  It might actually take years to reach the summertime of your Christian life, but God has equipped us with everything we need to combat any attempts by satan to uproot what was planted in the springtime of our lives.  (Remember that passage of scripture in Ephesians 6 about putting on the whole armor of God?  God made provisions for everything but our backs – we are to equip ourselves for battle and not run away. It’s pretty comforting knowing that when (not if) we go into battle that we WILL win, right?  We win because God has promised that HE will fight those battles for us!!)

 “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.” Psalms 63:1-4

“The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” Exodus 14:14

FALL:

Fall is, by far, the season that makes my heart the happiest.  It’s knowing that I can look back over the year and see where I was, and then see where the Lord led me in times of plenty and of need.  It’s knowing that although winter is coming, I’ve got provisions stored up for the days ahead.  I used to admire my mother’s pantry after all the garden vegetables had been harvested and canned; a beautiful sight to behold!  On those barren winter days, she would grab a jar from the pantry and put another beautiful meal on the table.  (One of my all time favorite comfort memories is walking into my mom’s kitchen on a crisp fall day; she was standing over the stove cooking an iron skillet of fried sweet potatoes and tending to a pot of turnip greens, while the intoxicating smell of baking cornbread filled her modest kitchen.  Before I even got in the front door, I could hear her sweet voice singing an old familiar hymn.  I love how the Lord can flood our souls with pure joy at just the thought of a long ago memory!)

So how do Christians “store up” for the coming winters of our lives? As I took my morning walk, I was drawn to the tall grasses, heavy with dew, and it reminded me of how God provided manna every single day for the children of Israel.  He provided, they depended upon it.  My friend, the Lord has promised to meet our needs, but not necessarily our wants.  He knows what’s best and I’m so very thankful for that. We “store up” when we read His Word daily and apply it to our hearts.  When the cold and barren days come, as they surely will, we can rely upon His Word to comfort and guide us through the hard times.  This I know for a fact!

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  Matthew 6:19-21

WINTER:

Even in the south where I grew up and still live, winters can sometimes be brutal.  Southerners are poorly equipped to handle much snow and ice because we always assume that it just won’t happen again.  We rely on the forecasts of the persimmon seeds to let us know the conditions of the approaching winter months.  And as an added reinforcement, all southerners know that if you count the foggy days in August, that will be the number of snows in the winter.  But yet we’re always surprised when it does happen. 

Are you in the winter of your life?  Do you find yourself distanced and cold from what once brought you so much joy and comfort?  There are days that I sometimes feel like  I’m in the middle of a blizzard; knowing theoretically what God would have me to do, but not really hearing that still small voice. When my grands are here and we start outside to build a winter snowman, we make sure that we all have on coats and caps and mittens (for those very rare snow days in the south).  As Christians, we also need to insulate ourselves from the winter of our lives; we need to study our Bible, talk with the Lord, serve others as the Lord leads, commit to a Bible-believing church and attend ….. not only attend, but build on our day-to-day/minute-by-minute relationship with the Lord with true heart-felt worship. 

“Do thy diligence to come before winter.”  2 Timothy 4:21

What season are you in right now?  Don’t be surprised when it changes; just be prepared.

Thank you for taking the time to read these words of a “seasoned” granny.  I’d love to hear about your grands, and I would especially love to hear about your walk with the Lord!  Look for me on my brand new Facebook group, New Mercies.