To Everything There Is a Season
By: Michelle S. Lazurek
"To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven…A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance." Ecclesiastes 3:1,4
My husband and I wiped tears away as we unpacked the last of my daughter's things as she moved into her dorm room for her first year of college. We hugged her and then quickly hurried to our car to drive home. As we drove home, memories of her as a child flooded our minds. We remembered with joy the Princess costumes, her love for life, and her ability to smell every rose on our nightly walks as a family.
Although we cried tears of grief at the loss of our last child being sent away to college and our nest being officially emptied, we chose in the days that followed to rejoice in the time we had her rather than lament over the time we've lost. As a stay-at-home mom, I got to be with her and my son through every significant milestone. I missed not one major event in their lives. I rejoice as I look over her old photographs posing in her cheap costume jewelry and Cinderella ball gowns.
As parents, it's easy to become physically and emotionally exhausted when caring for young children. However, so many people have told me through the years that the days are long, but the years are short. As my children grew up and began school, the years went more quickly. What felt like one minute in Kindergarten became the next minute starting junior high. But I look back on those years, and I'm grateful for the time I had with her in the busy season of motherhood as I got to enjoy choir practice, sports events, and children's birthday parties with them.
While in the depths of grief, it's easy to want to let the uncomfortable moments pass so we can get to the joyous moments quickly. But just as in anything in life, there is the season for everything. As the verse of Ecclesiastes tells us, there is a season for everything in life. Now that my season of parenting is over, I can look forward to the new chapter God has for me.
I look forward to writing more books, speaking at conferences, traveling more, and enjoying time with my husband. It's hard for me to believe that these years I longed for ten years ago are here to stay.
In life, we have choices. How we look upon and react to our circumstances will determine how much we enjoy our lives and how much happiness we receive. We can choose to cry and lament over time lost and the fact that my children are no longer children, or I can take joy in the fact that my kids have grown into two strong, independent adults who want to follow the Lord wholeheartedly.
Analyze your season of life right now. Given how busy you may be, it can be physically and emotionally exhausting. Perhaps you are so busy with your overpacked schedule that you collapse at night's end, only to get up and do life all over again. Take heart and embrace the season that you're in. It may be tough to embrace your life's current circumstances (especially if they are difficult), but be reminded that God is using this season for your benefit and his glory.
Just as there are four seasons of weather, there are many seasons in life. Some seasons are longer than others, but God uses all of them for his glory. Enjoy watching your child out on the field kicking the soccer ball or starring in the school play. As with anything, there will come a day when those events will no longer happen, and you'll wish you had them.
Prayer:
Father, thank you that we get every season in life. Whether the season is painful or joyous, let it help us to embrace every season of our lives. Remind us that every season we have is well-spent. Thank you for not wasting our pain and allowing hard and easy seasons to mold us into Christ-like people. Amen.
Related Resource: Engaging with God in a Technology-Saturated World
Many of us feel hurried, and hurry is costing us more than we realize. The Unhurried Living Podcast with Alan and Gem Fadling provides resources and training to help Christian leaders learn to live and lead from fullness rather than on empty. After realizing the toll technology had taken on his connection with God, his community, and even himself, Carlos Whitaker took radical steps to disconnect in order to reconnect. He spent nearly two months living screen-free at a monastery, an Amish farm, and his own home, experiencing profound transformation along the way. If this episode helps you recenter your work and life on God, be sure to subscribe to Unhurried Living on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
Originally published Thursday, 30 January 2025.
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