Soul Seasons, Part 1

 A few days ago, I completed a task I dread with every fiber of my being: switching fall and winter clothes for spring and summer clothes. Wait, I think I just made this Herculean task sound like a trip to the pharmacy.  If only it were that easy. I take out 90% of the clothes from each drawer, dig plastic bins out of the closet, painstakingly go through each folded item, figure out if it'll fit the child or not, and either put it in the now emptier drawer, place it in the pile to consign, or place it in the pile to donate to the thrift store. Then I have to put away things, clean my mess, and do it all over again. Times 3. It's mind-numbing drudgery, only made more palatable by listening to music and making sure the kids are in school. And I do it all because of one simple fact: seasons change.

It would be weird to let my kids traipse on the playground in 90 degree weather wearing long sleeves and long pants, right? Imprudent if I let them wear their thick winter jackets to the beach, correct? With the changing of seasons comes a necessary flexibility on our part. Some may rejoice at the thought of changing things over from winter to spring. I mean, who wouldn't be excited about putting away snow shovels and bringing out garden equipment? Well, maybe some. But I digress. Then there's the changing of seasons from summer to fall, and then even tougher, from fall to winter. I love me some autumnal goodness; yet I have friends who hate the fall because of what's coming afterward. Seasons seem to draw emotions out of us that we don't even know are there. Seasons are a pretty big deal- they even determine where people prefer to live. The point is, there isn't one person on Earth who isn't effected by seasons; in climate, or of the soul.

You see seasons in climate are quite conspicuous. I can see flowers growing where there once were mountains of snow. I can see leaves growing on tree branches that once were bare. And my coat? Optional. It's downright comfy outside- a far cry from the muscle tensing, sub-zero wind chill factors of a few months ago. Seasons of the soul however, those are more inconspicuous. More personal. More palpable.

What season is your soul in? Are you in spring? Do you see lots of emotional, spiritual, and mental growth? Is there newness all around you? Or are you in summer? Are you finding the joy in everything? Are you finding deep pockets of rest and refreshment? How about autumn? Are you in a place of letting go? Are you finding the beauty in the releasing of things? And finally, are you in winter? Are you a bit withdrawn, growing silently yet steadily, like a seed under a blanket of snow? I have to be honest: I feel like I'm in autumn. And although I love me some autumnal goodness, letting go can be hard. Letting go of control. Letting go of comfort zones. Letting go of all the things I counted as essential to me feeling like I'm in the drivers' seat instead of the back row.

While I made the clothes switchover, I was carefully taking inventory. Wes and Janessa need more shorts, while Evan doesn't need much. Grant could use a few more shorts, but other than that he's all set. Three out of four Martins need flip flops. With each season of the soul, we need to be taking careful inventory of what our souls need to thrive in that particular season. Could you use more alone time? Would your heart benefit from a class? Would more margins in your schedule be beneficial, or could you use some more meaningful activity? And where do God, grace, and faith fit into all that?

Since every season takes up a certain amount of time, I'm going to carve the four seasons of the soul into my next 4 blog posts. My hope and prayer is that depending on what season of the soul you're in, one will resonate with you. You might even be in between seasons- cause there's such a thing as that too. Sprummer, anyone? :) Let's journey through this together. Let's see what treasures we'll find as we explore how spring, summer, autumn, and winter of the soul can affect what we dig out, and what we put away for a while.