Seasons Change

Chick-fil-A at 12 Noon.  I sit quietly eating my waffle fries.  I am on the quiet side of the restaurant. You know, the side of the restaurant where all the working lunch breakers hover to avoid the greasy-fingered toddlers darting back and forth between the glass enclosed cage playground and the table where their mother resides happy to get one moment of respite. I watch one such mother as she attempts to finish a meal with her two little toddlers. While trying to stay engaged and patient, the sheer exhaustion of keeping up with two little ones day after day resonates on her face and I remember that feeling. I also remember sitting on her side, clad in my sweats, hopefully free of spit-up or other baby body fluids, and looking at the quiet side filled with women who were actually able to shave that morning and coordinate their jewelry to go with their clothing.  Some days, it seemed as if I would never get to eat on the quiet side.

And now…… here I sit….and surprisingly….. I am filled with envy. 

I miss the noisy side.  

I’m entering a new season in life and a lot of changes are taking place.

-         My baby went to Kindergarten and that changed my daily routine.

-         My big girl discovered that she is within a few sizes of wearing my 

          shoe size and that means I will never own a pair of my own shoes 

          again (until she outgrows me).

-         I turn 40 this year and I won’t even go into details about the 

          physical changes that brings! 

At the same time, this year has already brought new friends, new ministry opportunities, and new goals to pursue.

 

 In the book, Same Kind of Different as Me, one of the characters, Denver, makes a statement that “nothin ever really ends that something new don’t begin”. Every new season signifies the end of something else.  Change is tough sometimes.  As women, we face many new seasons in life, but oftentimes adjusting to a new season is difficult because it always means that something has ended, changed, or died in order to bring us to that place and we miss those things.

-         I miss having my babies at home with me.

-         I am going to miss my shoes.

-         I miss my younger body that I used to think was fat and now kill 

          myself at the gym to try to be that “fat” again!

It’s easy to get caught up in what was then and miss out on what is now.  I don’t want to do that anymore.  I want to embrace new seasons of my life (even the flabby ones!) and live out the purpose God has for each one to the fullest.

  Mary, the mother of Jesus, is one of the few women in the Bible, we actually  

  get to watch throughout many seasons of life.

 

-We sense her timid wonder as she as she receives news that she is 

honored and  

highly favored and she humbly steps forward.

-We bear her pains as she bravely gives birth to the Savior in the least 

likely of settings.

-We sense her urgency as she flees to Egypt, away from everything she has known, in order to protect the child entrusted to her.

-We can relate to the worry at the loss of her child, as she searches for days only to find Him in the temple and she steps aside reminded that He is called to a

higher purpose.

-We wonder as she witnesses her Son perform his first miracle in order to provide for her need. 

-We step back with her as her Son’s ministry grows and she becomes a follower of Christ.

-Our heart breaks with hers as she watches the Son she bore; bear her sins and the sins of the world on the cross.

-And we marvel at the completeness she must feel, as her life comes full circle and the woman who first witnessed the birth of the Savior now witnesses the birth of His church.

And through every season, we see that Mary remained “His faithful servant”.

She humbled herself and was willing to gracefully step forward, step aside, and step back – whatever was needed to fulfill her purpose in each season of her life.

 

 I want to walk in that grace and humbly accept each new season with a servant’s heart, ready to faithfully walk out His purpose.  It is easier said than done! Mary leaves us with a great example-still I wonder if SHE would gracefully give up HER shoes!

 

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