Changing Seasons

Last night I went for my usual walk around the lake.  Spring is definitely here!  All kinds of babies from fawns to goslings have their parents scrambling to feed, care and protect.  Under a foot bridge, the cacophony of cries from nests filled with tree swallow chicks was almost deafening.  Moms and dads darted back and forth, gathering insects for their young.  They seemed none to happy to be disturbed by the noise created as I walked across the wood and iron structure.

One of the most beautiful sights I witnessed was this gorgeous creature perched as happy as you please on a rock.  Pretty sure it's a Great Blue Heron.

I slowly, quietly, made my way to the waters edge, carefully testing one of the larger stones to see if I could get a footing.  I lifted my camera phone and voila! A picture worthy of a postcard.  Within seconds, he was off, and I quickly snapped a few more.

As I rounded corner away from the lake and into the wood, I was suddenly struck by how lush everything was becoming.  It had rained the previous two days and everything had a more intense color.

The brown tree trunks appeared almost black, and the leaves were a deep, rich green.  Everything smelled clean and fresh.  I remembered coming this way not much more than two months before when the trees were barren and the only leaves were brown and crisp and strewn across the forest floor.  How very different it looked today. And I know in another two months time it will appear different still. The vegetation will be even more thick, filling out the gaps and totally blocking the view to the lake just beyond.








As I pondered all the changes, I thought back to a conversation I'd had a few days before with a young woman interning in my office. She knows my penchant for baking and to a lesser extent, cooking. She asked me if I'd always been so passionate about it. "No" I laughed. "I HATED to cook when I was younger." She seemed shocked. "It was a different season of my life" I explained. "The kids were young, I was working several jobs to make ends meet. The last thing I wanted to do was spend time in the kitchen when I got home." I went on to explain that I'm a very different person these days.
I love spending a Sunday afternoon cooking and baking for the week.  I get tremendous joy from creating yummy treats to give to family and friends.  Tangible evidence that I've spent time creating something just for them, to make them feel special.

I've discovered a new found joy in being outdoors experiencing nature.  I've taken to having my camera with me on my walks to capture simple and amazing beauty right in the local park. (Okay, it's just a camera phone, but you can't deny I've gotten some amazing shots with it!)  I feel like I'm beginning to develop a bit of an eye for capturing God's incredible beauty in nature which is a totally new interest for me.









I've become an even greater lover of sunsets...reveling in the rich golds, pinks, and purples painted across the sky and the shimmering glow dancing across the face of the water as the sun slowly slips down behind the edge of the lake to ultimately be swallowed up by the trees.  I have always led a busy life, and my calendar is still very full, but I have learned the benefit - the absolute necessity - of slowing down to enjoy life.  Of experiencing it with all my senses.  Of being quiet before God to hear what He is whispering to my soul.  It is an exercise I wish I had learned many years ago.

I've also discovered the importance of friends.  True friends who will laugh and cry with you.  Who don't care if your house is a mess - they come running when you tell them YOU'RE a mess at that moment.  Who when they say they will pray for you, actually do...and you know it because you feel the peace, the calm, the presence of God when you can't utter a word in prayer.  I now say "I love you" unashamedly and often to those friends because I truly do. 

Yes, I'm in a different season in my life.  It is rich, and full, and beautiful - much like spring.  But it wasn't all that long ago that I went through the winter.  Things were barren and often looked bleak.  However, I've learned to see the pockets of beauty that still existed during that time.  And I now appreciate spring all the more because of it.

Author and speaker Priscilla Shirer (daughter of preacher Tony Evans) shared in one of her studies something that stayed with me.  She said her entire single life she had longed to be married.  And when the day came that her now husband proposed, she was elated...for a few minutes.  Then she looked at the ring on her finger and realized that for all intents and purposes, her single life was now over.  And suddenly, she wondered what she had done with all those single years.  Now that she's the mother of young children she sees it happening again.  The temptation is to wish away the time - waiting for the day your baby can crawl, then walk and talk, then head off to school and before you know it, they are married and you wonder where?  Where did the time go?  Each season of life is to be lived to the full and appreciated for what it teaches us.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 are the well known "a time for" verses.  "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."  Verse 11 goes on to say "He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

The devotional Jesus Calling put it this way a few days ago..."Here and Now comprise the coordinates of your daily life.  Most people let their moments slip through their fingers, half-lived.  They avoid the present by worrying about the future or longing for a better time and place.  They forget that they are creatures who are subject to the limitations of time and space.  They forget their Creator, who walks with them only in the present."

Don't let another moment slip away.  Begin today walking with Him in the present.  He has made everything beautiful in its time, so live the time you're in right now to the full...the seasons will most assuredly change down the road - don't miss a second of the one you're in.

The Oxymoron of Me - The Wild, Quiet Life

I tend to live life at 100 mph.  Always doing, always thinking, always connecting people one with another.  I work a full time job, head a ministry that could easily be a full time job, and have spent a lot of time lately with my 22 year old son who's been going through some tough stuff the past 6 months.

On top of all those things vying for my time, I'm on the church praise team, lead a monthly women's prayer group, and I try to stay in touch with many friends through emails, cards, and trips to the diner for a cup of coffee.


And then there are my interests and passions.  Writing, singing, reading, biking, walking, the theater, and most recently some very amateur photography.









I'm very lucky in that while I'll never become wealthy doing my job, it has wonderful perks which allow me access to local theaters, Broadway, concerts, theme parks, ball parks, restaurants and more...all at no cost.  A friend once joked that I live a wild life of constant entertainment.  That might be a tad overstated, but I am fortunate to have many cultural outlets.

Recently though, I've slowed down.  I've taken my foot entirely off the gas pedal.  I've begun to coast.  Part of it might be attributable to the very early spring here in New Jersey.  Beautiful, sunny weather with temps in the 60's, 70's and even 80's last month made day after day a wonder to behold.  And behold I have.  Where normally I'm one to look at the trees and wonder when they'd gone from bare to full bloom, I'm now outside each day seeing the subtlety of change.

Buds tightly closed one day, are cracked open the next.  A day or two later I see the flowers begin to unfurl.  Like watching time elapsed photography, I'm aware of trees, shrubs, plants and flowers slowly and beautifully coming back to life.  Bursts of color...yellow, red, pink, green,  purple, white...a veritable rainbow of hues cover the landscape.

And then there are the walks along the shore of my lake.  Spectacular sunsets compete each evening for "best in show".  Golden sunsets shimmer over the ripples of water.  Trees are highlighted against skies painted with such exquisite intensity it's as if they're on fire.  Even the moon, stars and other planets like Venus and Jupiter have put on an amazing display night after night.

So what's the problem?  Well, I find myself in uncharted territory.  While I've slowed down before, for a day, a weekend, maybe on rare occasion even for a week's vacation, this has lasted for months.  My soul longs to be outside and commune with God's creation.  I rush to the park after work to catch enough light to take the 3 and a half mile walk through some of the woods and fields near the marina.

 I've been setting aside all else so that I can quiet my heart, extend my hand, and let God lead me in the dance.  It's as if I can't absorb enough of the sights, sounds, and smells that surround me outdoors.  I try to log each one somewhere in my mind, tucking it away.  Hiding the experiences in my heart.  It almost scares me.  Why this sudden push to soak in the beauty and stillness of my surroundings?  Why the hesitation to take on all those responsibilities that used to consume my day?  Am I subconsciously aware that there will come a time when I can no longer indulge my senses in this way?  Will there come a time when things are so hard I will need to dig deep to remember this closeness to my Creator?  I don't know, but I'm fighting the part of me that feels guilty for stepping off the treadmill and just standing in awe at all that's around me.

After all, doesn't Psalm 46:10 say  "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth?" (NIV) And Psalm 23: 1-3 remind us "The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me  lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.  (emphasis mine) He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake."(NIV).  So why should I feel bad?  I also think about Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 which says: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."

I can't stay in this place forever.  I need to get back to family needs, ministry tasks, day to day obligations.  But I have come to believe that this is a God-given season of refreshing.  An extended downtime when He and I can walk together and I can simply drink in all He has to show me and reflect on it.  He has created a world for me to enjoy and I am being obedient when I take the time to do that. When I once again have to pick up the pace, I pray I can find balance.  Rest stops along the highway.  Or better yet, instead of going only 0 or 100 mph, cruising more consistently at a manageable 50.

I generally wrap up my posts with some conclusion, some 'insightful' thought,or lesson learned, but today I feel like I'm just wondering out loud.  It's been such a strange time for me.  I'd love to hear about any similar experience you might have had.  What have YOU learned from it?