As I look outside at the trees with their leaves turning red,orange, and yellow; I just want to cry.  I am so NOT ready for winter.  I want the flowers to keep blooming and the sun to keep warming my face.  I want to go swimming and play with the children in the sand.  I want to go to the zoo and sleep outside in a tent.  I want to run barefoot through the grass and catch lightening bugs.

I could go on and on about the joys of summer, but it is now fall.  The air is chilly.  The flowers are going to bed for the winter and my bare feet are getting cold.  We will have our first frost soon and then the temperatures will really drop.  I think I want to move to Florida.

The Bible speaks in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, about their being a time for all things.  All things on earth has a special season.  That is also true of our Christian walk.  Sometimes we are in a ” summer season” and all is well.  We are happy and content; moving on with Jesus.  We have found our place in the big scheme of things and life is good.

Then comes a cold breeze of confusion or criticism.  Now we aren’t quite so happy and sure of ourselves.  We feel like all our labors are in vain.  We keep going because we don’t know what else to do, but our heart is not in it.  Our prayer life begins to suffer and the Bible becomes just another chore to give attention too.  But, even this isn’t the worst season for us.

When winter comes to our walk with Jesus, things really can get discouraging.  Our ministry seems to be going  no where.  We stop praying or feel like our prayers are bouncing off the walls.  Our hearts grow colder by the day and we feel like we are dead inside.

Winter doesn’t have to be so bad.  The flowers and trees use winter to rest and strengthen themselves.  I think that might work for us also.  We can learn to depend more on Jesus and less on ourselves.  We can use this down time to build up our reserves and deepen our relationship with God and others.  All seasons have their good attributes.  We just have to look for them.

When spring comes along, we are so ready to move forward.  All things become fresh and new.  We birth new ideas and ministries.  The SONSHINE warms our hearts and gives us direction for the new day.  Our hearts are full of joy with the coming of spring and we are full of anticipation for the new season.

The best part of spring is that it leads to summer.  Warm weather, warm hearts, warm testimonies.  Life is good in all seasons, because God is good in all seasons.