For Every Season

For years I've been using the term "this season" when referring to stages in life. You've heard the sayings: This has been a rough season. What an exciting season! We say it all the time. But really, growing up on an island where it is pretty much 80 degrees and sunny for most of the year, it's hard to wrap your head around the concept of seasons.

Well, last summer we bought a house in Oregon. We fell in love with the big yard, the beautiful trees and the thoughtful landscaping. The grass was the brightest green and it was perfect, except for one dead patch in the front yard that sort of stood out like a sore thumb. I figured they cut down a tree and the grass just never grew back. Well, a few weeks ago, little lavender and white flowers started to sprout in that "dead patch". It is now an incredible flower bed.

I don't think this picture does it justice but you get the idea. It's simply beautiful. Even more beautiful because it was so unexpected. Who would have thought that this incredible bed of flowers was just waiting for the seasons to change? It survived a long and cold winter. Months of rain, weeks of frost, days of snow. It was never a dead patch. It was always a vibrant, breathtaking bed of beauty. It just couldn't show itself. At least not until the seasons changed. It waited patiently. It didn't just survive winter, it thrived through winter. And when it finally arrived, it arrived with elegance, grace and beauty.

I'll be honest. I want "this season" to be over. I want the sun to shine. I want to walk barefoot and drive with my windows down. I want a diagnosis. I want to get off medication that makes me feel crappy. I don't want to be in pain all day. But just when I feel like this season will never end, I look outside and am reminded that seasons always change. Always. And when this one does, I'll be here, stronger than ever.

Waiting for Sunshine,

Kim