Seasons

So when I was thinking about writing this blog post, the first song that came to mind was "Days of Love" by Wes Terasaki. All you growing up at PVBC Family Retreats know the song. I'm not sure why that song came to mind because it doesn't even have the word "season" in it. Regardless, it was stuck in my head as I was driving/biking/walking around taking pictures.

I don't think I ever really understood the concept of seasons. Growing up in SoCal, we don't really have seasons other than basketball season and baseball season and football season. Palm trees don't really change color and there's always enough sunshine to go to the beach in December. Fruit and veggies are almost always of abundance and bananas are always readily available at Ralph's.

I knew about different "seasons" of life...but I don't think I understood what that meant. Seasons never really seemed much different. My Junior High became my High School. I went to College with my brother and my mom worked down the street and so did my dad. Home was never too far. While the transition from high school to college was a big change, it was like LA fall to LA winter. It gets darker earlier and it drops maybe 10 degrees, but that's really about it. Sometimes I didn't even notice the seasons changing in LA, and I think I went through much of my time at SC not knowing things were changing. Hindsight is always 20/20, and looking back, I can tell that, yeah, lots of things changed, and I went through a lot of different "LA seasons".

But I'm beginning to understand seasons a little bit better. Seasons look different, they feel different, and everything around you changes. I wear my thermals and long johns everyday. I started to turn my heater on when I wake up. I basically live in one room in my house because that's where the heater is. I have to wear gloves to ride my bike to work. It feels different. It's colder. The trees are changing colors. I was told that only the "trees with hands will become red like fire," which I found lining the street on my way to work. Soon that whole street will (hopefully) become "red like fire" and I'll take another picture.

King Solomon wrote about seasons in Ecclesiastes 3. "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." And I think now I'm beginning to realize that seasons don't last forever. Unlike LA where we have the never-ending-season-of-awesome-weather-and-sunshine-forever, I know it'll get cold and snow will come and then it'll become spring and the snow will melt and flowers will bloom again. And that in life, it will get cold and snow will come and there will be days when I wonder if the snow will ever melt and if the flowers will ever bloom again.

Sometimes we know that seasons will change, and sometimes they just happen. I know winter will come and snow will fall, and I'm excited to see snow fall. While it's scary to think about how cold it can get here, I'm excited to experience something new, something different. My sentiments about winter are the same when I prayed about coming here. It's scary to be an ocean away from almost everyone I love. It's scary to be alone in a foreign country. But it's exciting to be here. It's exciting to be with God and experience Him. To be able to meet God in a new way is priceless. And it's only for a season. Trees will change colors and snow will fall. Snow will melt and flowers will bloom.

May the Lord go with you as you go away from here

May the light of Jesus light your way

May His Word surround you in an unfamiliar land

Filling your days with love

May His Spirit touch your heart and carry you along

Going where our prayers have gone before

Not a worry, not a car, for trust is day by day

These are the days of love

Yesterday's passing away

But these are the days of the Lord

And the grace of Jesus that has brought you safe this far

Shall again go with you on your way

On other days just like today, but different better by far

Yes, these are the days of love