Seasons

One of the things I really miss about living in America is the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. Down here in the Southern Hemisphere we do have seasons but they are opposite of what I was used to in the U.S.. When we lived in Johannesburg we had a short spring in October/November, a nice long summer (not too hot)from December to March, short fall in April and May, then very cold winter from June to August/Sept.. Here in Maputo, Mozambique, so far, we have experienced an extremely hot summer, a warm fall, then a winter that felt more like fall and now spring that has some really hot days.

I was reading someone's blog this a.m. and in America, in the north, they are starting to feel that nip in the air and are already needing to wear jackets. I miss that - the changing leaves, cooler weather, long sleeves and jackets, hot chocolate. Here I'm starting to think things like.....Abby has outgrown her swimsuit from last year - we need to buy her new a new one soon. Do we have enough sunscreen or should I buy more on our next trip to South Africa? I wonder how soon we'll have to start sleeping with the A.C. on?

Right now I'm doing the Bible study Believing God by Beth Moore with a group of missionary friends. This study has been such a blessing to me. One of the things we have had to do is divide our life into 5ths and go back to each time period and remember things....like identifying any traumatic, pivotal events in our lives; what was the spiritual climate of our home; if I knew God, what was my spiritual walk like; or what people really influenced me spiritually during those years.

Doing this activity has made me look back and see the seasons in my life, spiritually...the early days of my walk with Christ and how excited I was as a teenager to find God's will for my life and be obedient. I remembered the wonderful friends God put in my life during my college days - friends who challenged me to walk consistently with Christ and pray harder. I also see years of a stale, dry relationship with God. Years when I was consumed with my self and my problems or only focused on what I was doing or not doing for God, thinking that was what he expected from me instead of nurturing a deep, intimate relationship with Him.

When I lived in the Caribbean we had no seasons - well there was a rainy and a dry season - but for the most part it was about 82 degrees farenheit every day, all year long. It was almost perfect weather. It meant I could lay out in the sun or go to the beach any day of the year. But life is not really like that. We have seasons - scripture tells us that in Ecclesiastese 3 - "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven: 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, 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 hope this season finds you walking with God and enjoying Him.
Blessings