Can't You Feel It? The Feeling is Everywhere!

Those are some of the words to David Foster's theme song of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. We were there and we felt it from our vantage point at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies where our daughter was a member of the Coca Cola World Chorus. What a time we all had!

Actually that paragraph was a sweet memory as the words of that song flooded my mind yesterday when I was choosing a "Fall" colored outfit to wear to church. The heavy rains last week literally brought Fall to us -- the cooler temperatures and going into Bath and Body Works with their Fall scented candles made me remember why I love the Fall season so much. I feel it. The feeling is everywhere.

But, my conscience is disturbed with all this feel-good feeling while people's lives have been disrupted by the West's raging fires, the East's Hurricane Isaias and this North, South, East and West pandemic! Lord, have mercy! King Solomon provides us some comfort with the words he penned in Ecclesiastes 3. "For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven; a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace." Those words are especially poignant as I think about my friend's father passing on and three weeks later her grandson was born. The cycle of seasons and of life.

King Solomon experienced the seasons and so do we. Best "seasonal" news is God is right there with us in all of our seasons. And, in all those seasons, He is working out His plans and purposes for our good. All of the seasons are necessary for us to learn, grow, and be resilient and determined to press through “the seasons”. The seasons are by God's design to cause us to trust Him more -- no matter the season.

Maybe you're not "feeling" the feel-good feelings about the season that you're in -- maybe your missing your child that's gone away to college. Maybe you're home schooling your kids again. Maybe you're still looking for a job. Maybe you're enduring the pain of a loved one in their final hours. Maybe hope doesn't seem to be on the horizon for you today. The journey from here to there may seem like a dark and endless tunnel, but I assure you, one day, you'll see the light and you'll realize the gifts you received during these "seasons". If we remember that there is a gift in every crisis or challenge -- in every transition of life -- we will purpose to "feel it". That feeling is the presence of God in the ups and downs of every season. As we discover the gift of His presence in every season, we will learn to trust God's loving, divine purpose in it.

If we purpose to respond to each each season from the “eye” of God's presence within, where perfect peace and wisdom dwell, we will emerge even stronger, wiser, and freer than before. We may even morph into a beautiful, free butterfly for the first time because of the inner workings of God in our lives during these "seasons". Can't you feel it? The feeling is everywhere!

Our Master-Planned, Changeable Lives

I’m seeing commercials and promos that talk about pumpkin spice candles and coffee, falling in love with fall and promos about the exciting new fall clothes colors. It hit me. Fall has literally sprung up on us. School is back in session and college teams' fans are out in numbers as they sport their favorite team shirts and colors. Soon the leaves will be changing colors. I’ve changed out some of my summer wardrobe for my fall/winter ones – even though we’re still having scorching hot summer days. I also took down my spring/fall home décor. Bring on fall -- my favorite time of the year! I'm ready for change!

I get amused at the FB posts bearing photos of their little ones and mamas crying out to their children: “Stop growing so fast. Don’t get any older!” I know they really don’t mean those words because how awful would it be for our children to stop growing and not getting older but staying as their little baby selves! But I get those mamas, because they are witnessing “time flying” right before their eyes.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1, King Solomon wrote, “There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season.” Many of us would be much more comfortable if everything stayed the same; yet it doesn’t. Everything has its seasons. Though we may like the seasons changing in nature, we may get frightened about the seasons changing in our lives. We grip so tightly to the present that it becomes traumatic when things change. Change can be difficult, but not so if we know God’s divine purposes are being fulfilled. God does have a purpose and a season for everything and right now each of us is in one of His seasons. It’s not about the seasons changing. It's about seeing God in the seasons.

Master Planned Communities are everywhere. The developer master-plans a clubhouse, pool, the number of homes, streets, curbs and amenities. I live in one like that. Well, we have the Master Developer and Planner...who is perfectly Master-planning our lives, the seasons we go through. He plans them with our ultimate success in mind. Isn't it time we relax and enjoy each season of our lives.....both in the climate, and in the transitions we go through? And, for goodness sake, mamas and papas, STOP wishing your babies to stop growing. It’s a part of the Master’s Plan to grow them into strong, self-sufficient and God-sufficient human beings that will change our world for good. Trust the Man with the Plan for your good!

EVERYTHING Has Its Season

Yesterday I received a Hobby Lobby email and it said, "Fall in love with Fall". Then, it hit me. Fall has literally sprung up on us -- school is back in session, and last weekend, the college teams' fans were out in numbers as they sported their favorite team shirts and colors. I'm already noticing some changing of the colors of the leaves on my trees. And, last night, I even changed out some of my summer shoes for fall/winter ones.

Isn't it amazing how God designed our world? My brilliant, scientific mind knows that seasons are the result of our planet's tilt—when our part of the world tilts toward the sun, we get spring and summer; when it tilts away, we get fall and winter. Our Creator didn't have to do things that way—He could have created our planet with no tilt and no seasons. But, God loves diversity, and wanted us to experience our world from the far north to the far south.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1, King Solomon wrote, “There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season.” Many of us would be much more comfortable if everything always stayed the same; yet it doesn’t. EVERYTHING has its seasons. Though many like the changing of seasons in nature, they are frightened with the changing of seasons in life. They grip so tightly to the present that it becomes traumatic when things change. I know change can be difficult, but not so difficult if we learn to go through the seasons, knowing God’s divine purposes are being fulfilled. God has a purpose and a season for everything and right now each of us is in one of His seasons. It’s not about the seasons changing, but it’s NOT seeing God in the seasons.

We hear about Master Planned Communities where the developer puts in a clubhouse and pool and master-plans the number of homes and streets and curbs and amenities. Well, we have the Master Developer and Planner...who is perfectly orchestrating our lives, the seasons we go through and He plans them with our ultimate success in mind. Isn't it time we relax and enjoy each season of our lives.....both in the climate, and in the transitions we go through? After all, He’s the MAN with THE PLAN for our good!