I love the Fall. It’s my favorite season. The cool, the colors, the cozy. But this year I have an even deeper appreciation for it. In this time of harvest God has called me to embrace a new way. Accepting the season for what it is and gleaning all the goodness from it. A season to reap what what’s been planted…

God’s been teaching me about the rhythms of my life. He’s set seasons in place for a reason, each has purpose, each brings its own smiles and sorrows. In each we are grow, though in different ways.

The past several years have held health challenges for me and there were many times I was on the couch for a week, or more, at a time with no energy to even do ordinary tasks. Who knew you could grow so weary from doing nothing?! (One thing I’ve learned is to let my body rest when it needs it. Too many years of pushing through left me depleted with nothing to left to push!) I had no idea how long the season would last and that led to deep discouragement at times.

It may sound weird that even though the season took its toll on me, I’m grateful for it and what I learned in its midst. It taught me to be still, and be ok with it. To be still and know. And not just any knowing, but knowing that God is faithful. He met me there and built in me a perseverance that could come no other way.

That season also taught me to trust. Trust that I was still who God said I was, even if my body was betraying me. To trust that I was enough even when I had absolutely nothing to offer. Trust that the stuff of life would not overwhelm me as I sat, often helpless. Trust that God would indeed carry me through.

And He did.

Seasons Change

This new season has been much improved and I’m so grateful. The “couch days” as we call them are fewer and farther between. My hubby and I were talking the other day and I mentioned that I feel stronger now than I have in years! Oh, thank You Lord!

In this season God has encouraged me to step out. Literally. There is a lake a couple miles from our house and He reminded me of it a few weeks back, and I felt compelled to take a walk (Not a normal occurrence for me with the issues I’ve been dealing with) so I headed to the lake with my hubby.

It’s a little over a mile around on the path and It was my hope to just get all the way around and back to the car. It was tough. My legs felt jelly and my shoes like lead weights. My back was hurting before we began and did me no favors as I exerted myself. I’m no stranger to pain, but a thought came to me “At least this pain is productive.”

I had to slow my pace considerably, but I did eventually make it round the lake. The last rise was a challenge and when I got home everything ached, but I did it! This was a triumph for me. Three days that week I walked that same path, each day a bit faster.

This season I’m reaping what I did not plant. (Oh, isn’t that the way of God’s economy!?) The fruit of this season, a result of God’s work in me in seasons past. I’m so grateful He still works in me when I A harvest of hope from seeds sown in those long dark days.

Fall has an undertone of Spring this year – new beginnings. A gift and a lesson that God showed me is it’s truly never too late. Never too late to begin, or to begin again…

This new rhythm in my days has prompted a revival in my soul and renewed joy to my heart.

Fall, the reward of enduring. A respite.

Embracing the Now

What would it look like if we truly embraced each season, before letting it go for the next? Allowed ourselves to experience the fullness of it without wishing it away for the future, or dragging our feet in the past. I wonder if we’d come to the end of each time satisfied. The fullness of it having had its way in us. Surrendering agendas for opportunities, and in that living fully in the present.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under Heaven:

A time to sow, a time to reap, a time to weep and a time to laugh.

A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

What season do you find yourself in right now? Are you fully present in it? What is God sowing in your life? Is there a new rhythm He’s calling you to? Dear One, take time to see, to embrace whatever it is, for our God has a plan and a purpose – and it is for your good.

The reward of a day embraced…