Changing seasons
Fall is here and this year it’s made me reflective. Sometimes when I have a moment to think, I think about how the weather seasons change and life seasons do too.
Sometimes when you feel like you’re drowning in diapers and sleepless nights, or toddler temper tantrums and scribbles on the walls, or bigger kid attitudes and the constant need for redirection to better choices, we forget that while those things seem constant at the time, they do one day end. They are just a phase, or a season of life. And I’m starting to realize, they end quietly and usually without immediate notice.
For most, I think there is usually a nice little ebb and flow to the seasons. But sometimes, a season, especially a painful one, can seem never-ending.
My family had an 18 month season of grief that began in 2021. I don’t know if that’s normal or typical but we sat down and counted it up one day and my oldest, who was 7 by the end of this time period, had been to 11 funerals of close family members and friends in his young life - including 5 great-grandparents, and 2 very unexpected close family friends. Death, it seemed, was our constant companion - and quite frankly, one we got real tired of having around. It involved a lot of honest conversations with our children, but death to them is a very natural part of life now and something that they understand fairly well - whether that’s a good thing or bad thing, I don’t know, but those were the cards we were dealt at that particular time and we just did the best we could.
I love fall and watching and feeling the season change. I strongly dislike winter weather but I do enjoy the slower pace that it usually brings. And after a stretch of a hard season or even just a jam-packed busy season, it’s nice to finally feel like there’s some calm back in the water.
If you find yourself in a season of hard - I hope you find it within yourself to just cinch up and hang on, even when that’s the last thing you want to do. Tough times don’t last forever, but tough people do. Whatever it is, it’ll pass. It may pass like a kidney stone, but it WILL pass!
If you’re realizing you’ve landed in a peaceful season - sink in and enjoy it for all it’s worth!
For those that are somewhere in the middle of experiencing both - I imagine you’re in good company!
That’s all I’ve got for today. Nothing profound, mostly just scattered thoughts that I’ve managed to piece together within the last couple of days. I hope you’re enjoying the changing seasons of life and weather, both and I hope you resonated with some of the thoughts I had, For What It’s Worth!