Seasons

The opening of Ecclesiastes 3 is all about how there are seasons in our life for just about everything. A time for laughing & crying, a time for planting & uprooting, times for scattering & gathering and so on. Some seasons are preferred to others but ultimately God puts us in these different seasons to teach us, to grow us, & to refine us. These seasons are designed to bring us closer to the Father and to deepen our understanding of His grace, love & sovereignty in our lives.

Upon reflection I have realized that I am transitioning into a new season of my life & entering new seasons in my relationships with the different people in my life. It's simultaneously exciting & breath-taking. In the next 12-14 months (God willing) I will be getting engaged, finally graduating college, going abroad, getting married & moving. This by far will be the biggest year of my life to date. It's terrifying, mind-blowing, beautiful & yet the anticipation is almost too much to stand :) Am i ready for all this? My head & my heart say no, but God seems to think otherwise, so in His sovereignty & goodness I will trust as he leads the way.

Sometimes though, with the changing of the seasons God does a little bit of pruning. Sometimes we have to pack a little lighter in order to move to the next season, and sometimes it's hard to decide what to leave behind. Fortunately the Father is patient & good & will show us what cannot be carried into the new season of life. I'm currently reading a book called "The Intangible Kingdom" and the authors put it this way:

"He loves to trim off anything that would slow us down, hinder us, or make the journey more difficult. Sometimes that includes people...sometimes that includes assets, possessions & material concerns..."

For me the pruning process is usually people, as everything I own fits in my car & I have no interest in accumulating stuff that has no eternal value. The changing of this season is no different. Through a series of events & after seeking wise counsel & much prayer I feel as though the Father is asking me to close the chapter on a friendship that I have loved having in my life but has ultimateely become unhealthy, & in the end would slow me down and/or make the journey into the upcoming season in my life more difficult. I am saddened to part ways but I know that my heavenly Father knows best & who knows, perhaps it's not permanent.

I am ecstatic for all the new season of my other relationships. I look forward to hearing about the adventures of a friend in Phoenix & about the adventures of adulthood from my better half ;) I look forward to being 90 mins away from my hermanita & having as much fun as possible w /my school friends as I enter my senior year of college (finally!) Probably most exciting come January, I look forward to having mi amor down south w/me! :D

My Father is good & good to me. I praise & thank Him for the changing of the seasons & ALL that they bring.