Seasons

Summer time can be hard for me, especially as my kids are getting older and involved in more things. School is finished and both of them are working and busy which means they are gone a lot. My schedule changes from revolving around school, meals, and children, to being alone much of the day. It is a hard transition for me. I miss my kids. I miss the structure.

I know it is good for them to be busy and working. I also know that this is such a great opportunity for them–its a gift from God! This time has forced me to evaluate how I’m going to fill my day.

Since the day I brought my children home from the hospital I have loved being a mom. I have never felt like I wanted to go back to work. I have loved being home and caring for my children. The minute you become a mom, something happens to your heart. I can remember, even when they were babies, feeling sad at times because I could already see that with each little change comes a little bit of independence.

A couple of years ago I had a conversation with a young mother. Her little girl had decided she didn’t want to breastfeed anymore. The mom was crying because she was sad that time was over. She apologized for crying and said she felt foolish. Later that day I stopped by her house with flowers and a note. The note read something like this: “I understand more than you realize how hard this is for you. I started crying about 15 years ago and haven’t stopped yet!” ( My daughter was 15 years old at the time.) That’s just what life is like when you are a mom!

So, what do I do with change? How do I face this season? How can you face the change and season you are in?

*Elisabeth Elliot says “We are not doomed to meaninglessness. A loving Purpose is behind it ALL, and a great tenderness even in the fierceness.”

* I think of the hymn “Trust and Obey”. When we sing it at our church we are reminded that our goal in life is not to be “HAPPY in Jesus”, but to “glorify God”. So, we sing it this way: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to GLORIFY GOD but to trust and obey”

* I can Pray. “What do You have for me to do today, Lord? Please show me who needs encouragement and who I can serve?”

*I can remember the promises that say “I will never leave you nor forsake you. I am with you always.” (Joshua 1:5)

* I need to remember that “it is here, where we happen to be at this moment and not in another place or another time, that we may learn to love Him–even if it seems He is not at work, where His will may seem obscure or frightening…Here and nowhere else is the APPOINTED PLACE. If faith does not go to work HERE , it will not go to work at all.”

*I can remember that His grace is sufficient with this “new set of marching orders!” “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:19)

May we seek and find what God has planned for us today–whatever our season!

“I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40:8, ESV

Gina Smith

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