Times and Seasons

Another beautiful May day in Michigan. It was quite warm here though and the wind was relentless again. The hot, dry combination quickly dries out the flower beds and garden. Great weather for clothes drying, but tough on garden flowers after too many days of it in a row.

I was privileged to start out the morning by having my devotions out in the English garden. Clint got my favorite bench hauled out there a few days ago. It sits within the bed frame along with a little side table, the wicker chair and a wicker table. I pinned the curtains shut on the east side to block the sun and it was lovely! I got to read my Bible and pray accompanied by the songs of a couple of wrens and some other birds that I couldn't name in the fencerow. A hummingbird kept flitting from my spirea to the coral bells. It was Edenic.

Actually it took me a little exra time to really get quiet enough to commune with the Lord because I was distracted by the scenery. I had to take a little time to just soak in the loveliness of the surrounding flowers and nature sounds. But while I was adoring the flowers the thought occurred to me that I wish all of them could bloom continuously. But that's not the way it works. Very few flowers are continuous bloomers, and then they still take a rest in the winter. So there is a season, a time for every thing. Most folks are familiar with those verses from Ecclesiastes. (Ecc. 3:1-8) "To everything there is a season...."

After a while I read my chapter for the day and spent some time praying and writing in my journal. I use various booklets or notebooks for journals. The one I am currently filling is one that is very nicely leather bound, decorative and matches my Bible cover. Rhiannon got both the Bible cover and the journal for me. On the bottom of each blank page in this journal is a Bible verse. As I was writing I glanced down and noticed the verse for the day. It was Ecclesiastes 3:11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time..." That was really neat! It dawned on me that God planned a time of beauty for every flower, plant, tree, etc. There is a flowering season and then it's finished for the year. Just yesterday I commented to Rhiannon that I needed to get busy pressing the little white blossoms of the spirea because they are essential to almost every pressed flower picture I put together. I remember saying to her, "You have one chance and one chance only and then that's it for another year." I've been really conscious of that this year. Maybe it's because we had such a long winter and cold drawn out spring. It seemd the season of flowers would never come. Maybe it's because I'm getting older and I am realizing how short life really is. Whatever the reason, I know I'm enjoying my favorite month so much more this year; constantly aware of each little phase of beauty.

This Bible verse and the thoughts about seasons got me to thinking about how that works for people. I think the Lord gives us seasons in our lives as well. I want to be so aware of the seasons and the divine appointments God has for me. I don't want to waste an opportunity and fail to bloom in the season I am in. Sometimes I even get frustrated waiting for the next season to unfold. That's when it becomes hard to enjoy the season you are in; you're always looking forward to the next! For instance, in the natural, I don't want to miss enjoying all the beautiful irises right now just because the hollyhocks aren't out yet! Do you know what I mean? There's just a definite drive in me to be careful not to miss doing what I should be doing when the Lord opens the doors of opportunity. I hope you feel the same. Remember what Esther was told in the middle of a time of deep distress and fear, "....Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14) Even though things around us may look dim at various times in our lives, we are appointed for a time such as this to be God's servants and messengers.

It was a really full day of fun and work. Rhiannon and I had Emma over for a day of fun. She and I walked out to the chicken coop and also to the flower garden as well as playing with her toys and reading her favorite books. It was a great day of being an Aunt and Granny. Rhiannon returns to her job tomorrow and this was the last day off for a while so we spent it with Emma.

Also did alot of watering today to keep things from succumbing to the blasting hot winds. I re-potted a few stray flowers hoping to sell them with all the garage sale traffic that will be up and down our road tomorrow. Planted the first of the yearly seeds in the English garden as well. I add a few annuals to each year to fill in with color while the perennials go through their various stages of bloom.

I hope today's thoughts on seasons and times were challening to you. I know they were to me when I first began to ponder them. Blessings, LORI