Category: Seasons

Preparing for This Moment

Posted on by Paula

I had been preparing for this moment over the past year, but especially over the past couple of months. I didn’t want to cry. Another son’s wedding date was drawing near, and I had been getting a bit emotional.

I always get excited for my kids as they gain their independence. I love hearing about their exciting plans, and by the grace of God, every single one of them has turned out to be a wonderful individual who I am proud of. So, I’m not quite sure why I get weepy as my kids leave home. I don’t want them to live at home forever, but for some reason I still get sad when they move out.

I am happy that Joshua has found a sweet and godly woman who loves him as much as he loves her. I am proud of the loving, caring and godly man that he has become. He has made wise and responsible decisions and has proven himself ready to take care of himself and his new wife. So, these teary-eyed moments that I was experiencing just didn’t seem to make sense.

My husband and I had done our part to the best of our ability. We had taught him to take care of himself. We had instructed him in what is right and wrong. We had encouraged him to follow his heart’s desire and to use the gifts and passions that God gave him. We had advised him to seek God first and let God take care of the rest. As parents, there was nothing left for us to do except to pray and entrust him to God.

Those of us who raised Joshua and Abby stole a moment before the ceremony to take them aside one at a time and pray over each of them. We released them to Him and to each other. They were never really ours to keep anyway. God had simply put arranged for us to be the ones to love them, to care for them, to teach them what it means to follow Him and to prepare them for this day and the days to come. We shed a few tears as we prayed and then pulled ourselves together.

After praying, we left our children and waited at the back of a crowded room. This was it. The time had come. The music began playing. The grandparents wiped their tears and were ushered to their places. It was our turn to enter. My lips started to quiver, but I was determined not to cry during the ceremony. I especially didn’t want to cry during the mother and son dance.

Joshua walked me to my seat, hugged me, embraced his dad and left us so that he could stand before God and begin a new life with Abby. I watched his face as he waited for his bride to walk down the staircase. His eyes still sparkled like they did the day he was born. For a brief moment, I saw that little boy in his striped engineer hat and red bandana. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I saw him standing at his train table connecting all the boxcars to the engines and maneuvering them around their wooden track? How did the years fly by so fast?

I quickly brought my mind back to the present and saw him as the man he is. I saw his excitement and the overwhelming emotion on his face as his bride appeared and walked toward him. Abby’s grandma gave her away, and Abby joined hands with Joshua. They exchanged their vows and committed to love each other through whatever the future holds as long as they live. They gave each other rings to symbolize their never-ending love for each other. They assembled a unity cross symbolizing the two of them becoming one in the body of Christ. They kissed, and they happily exited the room as Mr. and Mrs. Joshua and Abigail McCammon.

Joshua and I had a sweet conversation later as we danced. Although, for a while it was a bit too sweet, and I asked him if he was trying to make me cry. “Do you want me to?” he asked. My eyes welled up, but I fought the tears and simply enjoyed the moment. I listened to his excitement about his plans with his new wife and told him how happy I am for him as well as how proud of him I am.

Our family and friends continued to celebrate with the new couple until they were ready to leave. Then I watched Joshua open the car door for Abby as he had done so many times. This time, however, they did not wave as they pulled away. They were ready for their new life together.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 3:24).

They were doing exactly what they were supposed to do. They were ready for their new life together. They were happy, and I was happy for them. No need to cry.

When Troubles Seem They Will Last “4EVER”

Posted on by Paula

The bright orange construction sign grabbed my attention as I approached. The bold lettering was easily read from afar, “ROAD CLOSED.” However, as I drew closer, I could see that someone had added, “4EVER.”

From the looks of the construction site, it appeared that there was still a lot of work to be done before the road could be driven on again. I imagined that the person who added “4EVER” to the sign must have been someone who had driven by time and again, wondering in their frustration when the construction would be complete and when their inconvenience would come to an end. To them, it certainly must have seemed like the road would be closed “4EVER.”

Isn’t that the way life seems sometimes? We can be happily navigating along when suddenly, we find ourselves in a difficult situation that lasts much longer than we had anticipated. As our waiting period grows longer and longer, we start to lose hope that things will ever get better. It seems like the struggle will last “4EVER.”

Are you going through something right now that seems it will never end? Take heart! Wise King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,

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.

Life consists of times and seasons, and some of those seasons can last for a very long time. Whatever you are going through, remember that God is with you. Turn to him. Pray, search the scriptures, hold on to God’s promises and remember all the wonderful things that he has already done.

When the season continues to drag on, ask yourself a few questions, “Is there anything that God is asking me to do in this current situation? What can I learn from this incident? How can I use my experience to help others who may be struggling as well?”

Our life here on earth is short and though our trying seasons may seem like they will last “4EVER,” they really will come to an end. So while we are here on earth, we hold on to God through these tough times, we allow him to transform us through the experience to be more like Jesus, and we wait for the day when he will take us home where all of our difficulties, all of our suffering and all of our struggling will finally come to an end. Hold on to the hope that one day those who belong to him and have endured to the end will be living in his presence in a perfect place “4EVER.”

Only a Season With Better Days Ahead

Posted on by Paula
Pink and white dogwoods add life and color to the beautiful spring show around us.

Spring has returned, and life is good! Slowly but surely over the past month, new life has appeared. Hyacinth, daffodils and tulips burst forth from their bulbs that had been resting beneath the dirt all winter. The buds on the trees have given way to the first green leaves. The dogwood, wisteria and redbud trees boast a beautiful show with white, pink and purple flowers whose petals will eventually fall and decorate the ground. The fresh, crisp air welcomes the scent of freshly cut grass, and the sunshine lifts my spirit and warms my bones.

The older that I have become, the more I dread the winter. The flowers disappear, the leaves fall from the trees and the landscape turns brown and seemingly lifeless. Days of clouds and dreariness cause me to long for sunshine. The bitter wind and freezing temperatures make me want to hibernate until spring. The snow that I once looked forward to as a child has become a dreaded sight. As an adult, I find that snow means hazardous driving, sidewalks to shovel, slippery parking lots, damp clothes and wet, muddy floors.

As unbearable as winter now seems to me, I always make it through. Though the frigid mornings make me want to stay in my warm fluffy pajamas and hide under my electric blanket, I force myself to rise each day and persevere. I know that winter is just a season that will eventually come to an end and that spring and summer will happily return.

Life really is all about seasons. Some seasons are less enjoyable than others. Strained relationships, health issues, financial difficulties and grief can overwhelm us at times. There may be seasons so challenging that we struggle to pull ourselves out of bed each morning. Thankfully, our hardships are only temporary and we can have hope that seasons of love, good health, prosperity and joy will surely come our way again. Best of all, if we belong to Jesus, not only will He stay by our side through our difficult season, He also promises to someday take us home where we will find a permanent ending to those seasons of struggle.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 tells us, “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this:  God has made the one as well as the other….” If life was always good, how often would we seek God? We thank God and praise him for his blessings during happy times, but we might not remember as well how much we need Him. It seems that the difficult times we encounter are the times that cause us to reflect and to realize our need for God. When times are bad, we turn to God, remembering how awesome, powerful and good He is. When things are out of our control, we seek God for guidance, strength and peace. We may learn that there are changes we need to make in our life or we may simply realize that there is nothing we can do but hold on to God with all of our might and trust that relief will come. We definitely appreciate the good days more because of the bad days we endure.

When we seek God during difficult times, we are blessed by his love, peace and presence. During seasons of despair, we can remember that a season doesn’t last forever. We find hope that better days are ahead. Some of those days may be here on earth, but if we truly belong to God, we can be sure of a future when all struggling will end and we will inherit a life far better than we can imagine. A time is coming when peace, joy and perfection will last for an eternity.