A Season

Ecclesiastes 3 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

...He hath made every thing beautiful in his time"

You may hear these words spoken at a funeral or even at a graduation. We all know that there are seasons in life, but sometimes when we are in certain seasons, we forget that it's just a season. Tell a birthing mother that this is just a season or a father who just lost his job, it may not be very encouraging. However, we must remember that every second is part of a short season. 

I was reminded of this recently when I went through a horrible season of sickness. It started the Sunday before Mother's Day. First, my son got sick, then within 24 hours we were all sick.  It lingered and lingered.  My husband's illness climaxed and then slowly got better. My son's got better once I took him to the doctor and got the needed supplement.  Mine however, worsened. It went on for a few weeks, all the way up to my 40-week due date (I was pregnant at the time). It was horrible.  I was coughing constantly and the doctor's were too scared to prescribe me anything because of my allergies to the medications and due to the fact that I was due any day.  I was so frustrated.  I would cry at the drop of a hat and yell at my husband for the slightest misunderstanding.  Finally, my midwife saved the day with a suggestion and I was able to call my doctor back and get the prescription that I needed. 

In the meantime, I had gotten so bad that I was confined to bed.  If you know me, you know that I HAD to be sick to be in bed and for that long. Meanwhile, my labor was trying to start because of all the coughing and my stomach was rolling.  What a disaster!  While this was climaxing my husband was out in the heat too long playing basketball one afternoon and got dehydrated. So we were all in bed and our poor baby boy was entertained by Baby Einstein.  Of course, that was a treat for him. :-) I felt like a TERRIBLE mom. I was out for nearly a week and my husband who was usually my rock could do little himself while he was recovering. 

During that season, some different people stepped up to the plate and really helped us out. It was neat to see how much people cared. So it was a season of pain but yet a season of blessings. 

Even through the blessings, I STILL felt like a horrible mom. However, as I approached the end of my season of sickness, I saw something. I saw that my son got some extra wonderful time with his favorite person (his dad).  I got to see how he took care of me.  When I would come see my son and sit on the couch he would bring me pillow so I could lay down.  He even found a beach towel and brought it to me to cover me with.  I saw him love and kiss on me and make me feel better.  I would encourage him to play and he would come and sit next to me.  I saw him become very loving over the course of that week. There as some really awesome moments that came out of my season of sickness.

And again, that's what it was, friends. A season. It came and went and now I am on to my next season in life. What about you, friend? Are you enjoying this season? Are you seeing the blessings? Do you realize that it's only a season? Live today. -- Rejoicing in the Present