Seasons come and go. Like the wind, they are here for one moment and gone the next. Spring, summer, fall, and winter are four beautiful seasons each in their own light. In some ways, seasons can help us understand our human life cycle as we travel from birth, to youth, to adulthood, to old age, and finally, to death.
Spring is a symbol of birth. During this season, in my home state of Virginia, the Earth’s axis tilts towards the sun and the days get longer and warmer. The animals, who have been in hibernation, start to wake up and become active. Many animals give birth to babies. In the spring, there are more rain showers and the flowers start to bloom. In this season, we celebrate holidays like Easter, Passover, Earth Day, Mother’s Day, and Cinco De Mayo. Spring makes me think about the beautiful day my son was born, May 5, 2012. My husband and I named our son after my husband’s father, Thomas K. George II. Thomas was a Cinco De Mayo baby and we were ready to celebrate the day he was born. It felt like the earth, wrapped up in springtime, was celebrating with us.
Summer is a symbol of youth. During this season, the Earth’s axis tilts further towards the sun. In the summer time, people like to spend their days outside enjoying the warm temperatures. Summer is also a time when many crops are grown. Plants grow best in the summer months because they receive the most sunlight. Animals are very active during summer months gathering food and raising their young. In this season, we celebrate holidays like Father’s Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. At the end of the summer, hurricanes start to form, and the seasons change. Summer makes me think about my son and how much I loved swimming with him in the pool. My husband and I loved taking him to the beach to play in the sun.
Fall is a symbol of adulthood. During this season, the days get shorter as the earth begins to tilt away from the sun. The leaves lose their green colors because they cannot get enough sunlight. Yellow and orange colors start to appear as the chlorophyll, the plant’s food, drains from the leaves. Once all of the stored food is used up, the leaf dies, turns brown, and falls off the tree. As the leaves fall, animals start to prepare for the winter and people bring out their warm clothes. In this season, we celebrate holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving. Fall makes me think about all of the fun Halloween times that we celebrated with our son. We dressed him up like a pumpkin, cookie monster, and superman during his childhood.
Winter is a symbol of old age and death. During this season, the Earth is tilted away from the sun. The hours of daylight are shorter and the temperatures are much colder. Some animals hibernate in the winter including bears and chipmunks. In the winter, at least in Virginia, it normally snows, and kids have a fun time playing in it. In this season we celebrate holidays like Christmas, New Year’s, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, and Groundhog Day. Winter makes me think about the special times that my husband and I got to have playing with our son outside in the snow. Our little boy loved to go sledding.
In this season of life, I am a young adult, a young mother, to a beautiful little boy who lives in heaven with Jesus. It brings me comfort to think that time in heaven is different than time here on earth. Peter tells us in the Bible that God is not bound by time. Peter says, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.”[1] Heaven is God’s dwelling place, and those who live with Christ are not bound by time. My husband created a picture of this to help me understand what this might be like. He told me to think about it as if I dropped off our son in Sunday School and that he is waiting for me to pick him up with no concept of time passing. In other words, my son does not have to feel the pain that I feel being apart from him. For this, I am very thankful.
While we do not know exactly what time will be like in heaven, we do know that God has created a time for everything. As we are told in Ecclesiastes, God created a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance.[2] In this season of life, I choose to look forward to new beginnings. As I wait to join my son in heaven, I can use this time in my life to dream new dreams and create new memories. I find myself thankful that as seasons change, love never dies. While I cherish memories of my son, I can begin a new season and find time to dance, make new friends, and create new opportunities.
Some lessons that I take away from this story are that those of us who have experienced loss can have a new start in life. We can learn how to begin again in a new season. What season of life speaks to you? Do you prefer to be in spring, summer, fall, or winter? How does each season teach you something about the stage of life you, or someone you love, is in? Talk it over with God. Let God know what season draws your attention. When you pray to God, you can begin to work through your pain. God can help you begin a new season that may give you new friends and opportunities. God wants you to feel His love as you begin this new season in life.
Tags: Seasons, Life-Cycles, Healing, Resilience
[1] 2 Peter 3:8
[2] Paraphrased from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8