One of the constants in life is that nothing remains constant. Things change. It’s inevitable.

You may embrace change, being bored with ruts and enticed by the hope of something new (that’s me!). Or your default emotion may be apprehension, preferring the familiar with its problems to the unknown.

Some change is good and long-anticipated, but much of it is painful and sudden. Whatever kind of change it may be for you, and however you think about it, you can’t escape the fact that it touches all of us. And it usually arrives tinged with both aspects we love and aspects we wish were different.

I’m in an intense season right now. The pressure from mammoth work projects, doubling my course load (so I might finish before I’m 60), and wondering what impact my boss’s retirement will have on my future (will I still have a job?) is squeezing me from all sides. I don’t like that I’ve had to let some things go–this blog, for one–but I realize the sacrifice is just temporary. The end is looming and the reward will (I hope!) make the difficulties worth it. In other words, I chose a majority of the changes facing me. This pressure was not inflicted on me unwillingly.

But sometimes it comes unbidden.

The seasons change whether we want them to or not. I love fall, so I welcome the cooler temperatures and can’t wait for the blast of color soon to wrap these mountains in glory. But you may prefer summer and still grieve its passing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each season is beautiful in its own way and yet each is less-than-ideal. Nothing–and no one–is perfect in life. As much as the vivid colors of autumn delight me, I’m not a fan of my allergies acting up or the dreaded stink bugs returning. The nanosecond glimpse I see of inexpressible beauty is like the portals of heaven opening to display a shadow of our future home, a peek at the Creator’s artistry. Then they snap shut and we’re mired back in the muck of reality, with the restless hope tucked away in our hearts that one day everything will be made perfect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are seasons of life which are broader and longer than three months (raising children, getting a degree, grieving a loved one’s death, to name just a few). Sometimes they last for years. They feel like they’ll never end. But whatever the season outside your door, or the reality inside your soul, it will pass and another season will take its place. Eventually.

Seasons change. Life changes. But God never will.

“It is well for us that, amidst all the variableness of life, there is One whom change cannot affect; One whose heart can never alter, and on whose brow mutability can make no furrows.”  Charles Spurgeon

Therein lies my hope!