A Brief Note on Seasons

Maybe I'm the only one that does this, I don't know maybe you do it too...

I can be completely enjoying a summer day - warm breezes through the windows, sounds of happy girls playing in the sprinkler, growing things sprouting a perfect vibrant green in my garden, the taste of fresh veggies or smoky barbecue - perfection, right? But then something will strike me, a stray orange leaf or a puff of dandelion that looks like snow - and I momentarily wish for another season.

Autumn - it's brisk days, the freshness of new books and schedules making everything seem exciting. Winter - the hustle of gift-buying, cookie baking, and party planning. Spring - the first long walk, following my girls zooming away on their bikes and that first smell of blooming lilacs. Even in the brief and beautiful summers found in Northern New York, sometimes I wish it away as I remember the other seasons we enjoy. It's so like motherhood, isn't it?



All too often, I find myself thinking back to when my girls were those ages. It was so much easier then. Moms with children that are that age - they have it so easy. They don't have to deal with ______. Life was so much less complicated then. But if we really remember clearly, moms, no ages are easy because each age and season comes with it's own unique challenges and struggles. Yes, no doubt about it, having two daughters of babysitting age in my house is amazing. It makes a lot of things easy. But it's also a season with two teenage daughters and a tween coming up hot on their heels. Discipline and teaching isn't as cut and dry as it once was. Relationships are challenging, as girls stretch their wings and bump into a sister who is also stretching.

My words have been pretty lacking around here, I know, and this isn't adding much. But as I consider how our season is shifting once again - our oldest turns 16 in a few short days! - I thought about how easy it is to just constantly look back and wish. Or maybe you look forward and wish. Just look at the faces around you, and wish to bring love and life and the Gospel into this moment, into those lives. This moment, this age, this day is only lived once. Treasure it, mommas. There is a season for everything.