Today, it was finally warm enough to go outside without my coat. As we were walking from the car into church I could feel the sun on my shoulders and I ‘strolled’ along, not feeling I had to hurry for anything. That wasn’t the case last week. I almost ran towards the church, my arms crossed and a look of determination across my face as I battled the cold and the wind.
Our business has its seasons. We own a Bridal Shop and we are well aware of seasons. During the busy season we work long hard hours hardly stopping during the day to even grab a bite to eat. During our slow months, we catch up on all that couldn’t be done during our busy season. I like both seasons because without the busy season there would be no money to pay the bills and without the slow season we would never catch our breath.
As in everything, life has it’s seasons too. Our marriage has seen it’s fair share of seasons. We’ve been through the season of dating and all the excitement of young love – discovering all that we had in common. We’ve been through the Newlywed season- discovering all that we didn’t have in common or all that we had different ideas about. Parenting was another season. This in itself has seasons. The baby years (I remember not having a lot of sleep or money in this season), childhood, adolescence (I remember not having a lot of sleep or money in this season either), and finally empty-nesters. We have been through seasons where, we had all we needed and seasons where, times were extremely tight. Seasons where, shear disaster struck and it was all we could do to hang on. (Twice we lost everything we owned and started from scratch)
The love feeling in marriage has its seasons… Years where love was exciting and years where love was frustrating. Years where, you are best friends and years where, you are worst enemies. Years where, you cling to one another and years where, you need some personal space. These changes are normal and exist in every marriage and even every relationship.
I’ve been thinking a lot about seasons lately. Mainly because we just finished prom season and are now fully engaged in bridal season. Although I enjoy this season, I am looking towards October knowing that I will be able to rest. Our busy season, makes it difficult to keep up on other areas of our life; like these blogs for Say I Do Forever. But I know, during our quieter season we will have the time for these again.
I ran across a passage in the Bible that helped me realize that God is ok with whatever season we are in. Ecclesiastes 3 says: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, 
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Are you in a wonderful season with your marriage? Embrace it. Dwell in it. Enjoy it.
Are you in a hard, miserable place in your marriage? Understand that it could be a season. Seasons will change. Things will get better. Work hard to improve your communication and be understanding that your spouse may be going through a hard season of their life.
Maybe you are in a season of healing or waiting. Don’t get impatient. Don’t feel guilty about taking time away from “life” to find some quiet time for yourself.
Is it time to weep or time to laugh, time to mourn or time to dance? Where are you in life? Where are you in your marriage? God is with you.
For now, we are in a busy season. The blogs will be sporadic. Our prayers and thoughts are still with you and your marriages. We will do our best. This is just the season we are in.
Christa