Every Season

Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future. (Eccl. 7:13-14)

I thought it ironic that today, the 1-year anniversary of dad's cancer diagnosis, this passage from Ecclesiastes was on my heart. Happiness, sadness, laughter, tears. Joy, grief, heartache, suffering. He has made each season of life, beautifying and befitting, wrecking and restoring Each displays the work of God in our lives, and results in the praise, glory and honor due His name. (John 9:3, 1 Peter 1:7)

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. (Ecc. 3:1-5)

And as the saying goes: "Into every life a little rain will fall"- who can know when the storms will come or where they will wreak their havoc? No wonder He tells us not to worry about tomorrow ..."tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." It is likely that cancer will re-visit our family, but for today at least, we celebrate the life He has given us!


Every Season (Nichole Nordeman)
Every evening sky, an invitation
To trace the patterned stars
And early in July, a celebration
For freedom that is ours
And I notice You
In children’s games
In those who watch them from the shade
Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder
You are summer

And even when the trees have just surrendered
To the harvest time
Forfeiting their leaves in late September
And sending us inside
Still I notice You when change begins
And I am braced for colder winds
I will offer thanks for what has been and was to come
You are autumn

And everything in time and under heaven
Finally falls asleep
Wrapped in blankets white, all creation
Shivers underneath
And still I notice you
When branches crack
And in my breath on frosted glass
Even now in death,
You open doors for life to enter
You are winter

And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced
Teaching us to breathe
What was frozen through is newly purposed
Turning all things green
So it is with You
And how You make me new
With every season’s change
And so it will be
As You are re-creating me
Summer, autumn, winter, spring