Celebrating the Seasons

Autumn in Virginia

November 2013
Photo by Lidia Arbolario

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven...

- Ecclesiastes 3:1

Autumn … such a beautiful season!
Full of meaning and significance.
We have gone through autumn seasons time, and time again.
It is a recurring theme in our lives, as individuals, and as a family.

It is a season of letting go.
Of one’s ideals and pre-conceived notions.
It is a time of stripping, just like leaves falling… one by one…
until nothing is left but the branches.
And the tree is bare...
Exposed, as it were.

Autumn seasons are not easy. We feel vulnerable. Unprotected.
Marriage is one such season.
Getting to know one another’s weaknesses… and shortcomings.
Letting go of expectations.
Learning to accept what one cannot change.
It is a kind of dying to self.

Yes, it is a recurring theme.
Children are born… nurtured… and brought up in love…
But we are constantly reminded, we do not own them.
They have their own destinies to follow.
We keep them close, but we release them. We let them go…
It’s an important part of helping them mature.

And in this process of letting go… we also grow.
Letting go is part of growth and maturity.
New roles. New responsibilities.
New assignments.
Leaving the comfortable and the familiar.
Learning to adjust.

New relationships.
Sailing uncharted seas.
There is much to learn.
Entering new territory.
Learning to trust.

God the Father is doing a new thing.
In the autumn seasons of our lives… the bottom line is this:
In the midst of change is the best time to learn
how to trust in God alone.
Autumn prepares us for what lies ahead.

image source

Winter
… a seeming death of all that we had hoped for.
Barrenness.
Emptiness.
Everything is bleak, and dreary.
And cold.

The sad events in our lives… which are inevitable…
Saying good-bye to loved ones.
Beautiful plans that either miscarry… or take a wrong turn.
Misunderstanding…
Miscommunication…
Hearts are wounded… and pain enters the picture.
There is separation.
There is loss.
We long for answers… but questions are all we have.

Yet… in reality, underneath that cold blanket of white…
there is so much life.
The trees are bare, and nothing blocks our vision.
For without the clutter of thick foliage on the trees,
it is in the winter seasons that we can see very far.

Winter is a season of clarity.
Of redeemed perspectives.
A season of promise and hope.
Gaining understanding… confidence…
And learning to be secure in the promises of God.
Knowing that after winter comes the spring.
Knowing that winter is not forever.

Seasons come, and seasons go.
But we remain rooted, and grounded in the Father’s love.
Winter is a season of resting in His promises.
Yes… winter is indeed a season of promise
Winter waters the ground for growth.
Winter is necessary for spring to be fruitful.
Winter is needed for a bountiful harvest.

Cherry Blossoms in Chiang Mai

Photo by Teerapong

In the springtime we see this truth: there is life out of death.
Spring completes what autumn begins.
The stripping of autumn is needed for the newness of spring.
The old is gone… the new has come!
Winter is a season of rest… a season of waiting.
And all of a sudden… new life bursts forth!

There are individual stories in each season.
And there are new lessons to be learned as seasons come and go.
The seeming losses of our autumn seasons
somehow come back to us in the springtime of our lives.
We need to be emptied to make room
for the fresh, life-giving touch of God on our hearts.

The gentle spring rains… a symbolic picture
of what the heavenly Father does.
He sends us the spring rains…
to water the seeds of our hopes and dreams.
And awaken them to come to life.

In spring we are motivated to make a fresh start.
Just as seeds take root, and break through the earth to grow.
New opportunities.
Open doors.
A season to look up and welcome the new things.
A new way of looking at life.
Obstacles are overcome.
We aim for upward movement.
Growth is unstoppable.

There is a Divine Gardener who knows the plans He has for us.
Plans for good, and not for evil…
Plans that propel us into the future…
Spring is a season of renewed trust in the God
who holds our lives in His hands.

image source

The days are long and the nights are short in summer.
The sun shines brightly.
This is not the time to slow down.
Things are moving fast.

Flowers turn to fruit. Much fruit.
Dreams are realized.
Visions materialize.

There is freedom, and there is growth.
Challenges motivate us to move forward, and upward.
There is a way around hindrances…

This is a season of victory and singing and dancing.
Summer is a season of joy.
For where there is sunshine, there is no room for darkness.

Autumn in Virginia

November 2013

Photo by Lidia Arbolario

The cycle has come full circle.
It’s another autumn season…
Another time for pruning, and stripping.
Another season of coming to terms with our limitations.

A season when God continues what He has begun,
scraping off our rough edges,
That it might be revealed in the spring seasons,
the real beauty hidden beneath the surface.

So, painful as it is, we have to say yes to the pruning work
of the Heavenly Father upon our lives.
Pruning cuts back unwanted growth,
and sometimes, even the fair blossoms must fall.

What seems a seeming waste to the untrained onlooker,
to the expert husbandman, the Divine Gardener,
is actually an act of grace.
Doors are closing...


This is a season of harvest.
The fruits are plentiful.
What we have planted, we are now reaping.
It is a season of thanksgiving.
Never to forget that only by God’s grace have we reached this far.

The cycle continues.
Autumn is a season of looking forward to the best years of our lives.
Jesus reserves the best wine for the last.
Autumn is a season of looking forward to the restoration.
Father God promises,
“I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten.”
And a season of believing in the transformation…
The redemption…

The final autumn.
It is a season of renewed trust.
God’s word speaks powerfully:
“The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts,
'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the LORD of hosts."

Autumn… is a season of peace.
Trusting in the promises.
Resting in His love and assurance…