Seasons

I've been spending a lot of time researching my ancestors and loving it.  It gets quite time consuming, and I made a comment about it to a friend of mine last week.  She said she loved it too, but her 'season' now is for the girls at church, not for genealogy.

I got to thinking about that--seasons.  We have many seasons in our life.

• Our childhood: we are pretty much carefree racing around on bikes or scooters.  Looking forward to the lazy days of summer.  The biggest challenge is getting not to get cooties from HIM or HER or to be picked last for any gym class games. 
• The dreaded days of junior high and high school: We are hitting puberty, have the lovely zits, and wish we could drop off the planet.  There are the creatures of the opposite who don't have cooties after all.  And our biggest disasters are not going to prom, not passing the driver's test, and TO BE called on it class.

The seasons change as we get older--college, marriage, children, those children turn into teenagers, grandchildren, you get my drift.  And with each season, we are able to do more or less of the things we like to do. We are also adding to the list by learning and growing.

My list of "TO-DO's" has been growing steady since I was twelve or thirteen.  By now, if I were to write it down, it would be several sheets long.  There is no way I can do all of the things I love to do. I have come to terms with that.  I think it was the lack of money that first made me come to grips with this startling revelation. Then, it was the different 'seasons' in my life that got in the way--college and my studies; marriage and working; motherhood and working; just motherhood; and the list goes on.

Now, add an chronic illness into that.  It is really making me fight against, what I call, 'the unfairness of it all.'   I've lived through my seasons so now I am ready to PARTY!!!!  Wrong.  This, too, is another season in my life.

This past Saturday, my husband and I were out in our yard having a pruning demonstration for a few people in our church.  These people were so excited at 'our' knowledge of everything.  My husband nicely smiled, "Oh no.  It is all, Brenda.  She taught me.  I just do all the grunt work."  Then the people turned to me and started asking a ton more questions about anything gardening they could think of.

As I sadly looked at all that needed to be done in my yard, I realized I didn't have the strength or energy to keep up with it, but I did have the knowledge I could share with others.  My season for working outside is almost done, but my season for sharing what I know is still in full bloom.  And that is what I do.  I have an appointment to go to some friends' homes and help in planning their vegetable and flower gardens--what to plant, when to plant, where to plant.  I have done this with others for several years now.  I also work at the county extension office helping to diagnosis diseased plants and help others with their gardening problems.

My season for genealogy is starting to bloom.  If you had asked me when my kids were young, I would have laughed and said, 'Who has time?"  I love to sew for Humanitarian Aid.  When both my kids were in school, my season was to be the Room Mother.  Now I get to help out with children around the world.

So just because you aren't doing something you love to do now (whether it is because of a job, illness, church work, or taking care of someone else) know it is because it is your 'season' to do THIS now.  Find something you can do while you are in this season.  And look forward to what you are going to be able to do in the next season of your life.  You never know, you may regret the things you left in past seasons, but you also may be learning things to help you in future seasons.