“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” Ecclesiastes 3:1
Life is a series of seasons.
In South Texas, we have two seasons: long summer and short winter, green and then brown. Our first autumn in Northern Virginia yielded the brilliant colors of the Shenandoah Valley; reds, yellows, gold, and everything in between. It was like nothing I had ever seen.
Business runs in seasons as well. As an earthwork contractor, the long hot summers yield prosperity. An extended rainy fall results in the opposite. If you can weather the bad weather, the sun will break through again.
“a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” Ecclesiastes 3:4
We live our lives through seasons of ups and downs, fulfillment and emptiness, of joy and sorrow. If you can weather the bad weather, the sun will break through again.
“a time to be silent and a time to speak” Ecclesiastes 3:7
A time to fill a page and a time to leave it empty. I’ve faced both.
I have had seasons when new songs flowed like God’s abundant grace. Poignant or fun, somber or lively, soul searching or soul refreshing. Then there was the song I rewrote three times and it still wasn’t right. I even tried “I can’t find the words to say” because it was true. I have read about songwriters that write 1,000 songs a year to maybe write one good one. That’s about three songs a day, every day. But I stare at a blank page, a lonely piano and a dusty guitar, wondering why my muse is disinterested. Some seasons are frustrating.
“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24
So we must pass through difficult seasons to prepare for the next.
Recently, I was speaking with a sales rep that was helping us install a new phone system. We discovered that both of our alter-egos write. I felt our conversations were just good customer service, getting to know your client. But then a package arrived, a journal with the words “one good sermon” embossed on the cover. I recalled telling him that our pastor had said, “Everyone has one good sermon in them.” Perhaps the gift was just a good sales technique, but I took it as a push to write again. It would be a shame to let such a thoughtful gift go to waste. So I began a new season.
At first it was every day, sometimes more. Then it changed to whenever I needed to get a few things off my chest, even if it was just to me. I soon found that pouring out a struggle or a “why” on paper resulted in an answer, even if the answer was to pray and wait.
Most of the pages were filled with mundane, daily details, not suitable for public consumption, let alone interest. But every once in a while, a thought would pop up that needed a bit more pondering. Mix together some patience, some Bible time and a touch of God granted wisdom and a blog was born.
This season comes and goes as well.
Scribbling thoughts on paper allows me the opportunity to blow off steam, mumble, grumble and listen to heavenly whispers. It also provides an account of where I was and where I am. I can look back and realize that some seasons were simply lessons waiting to be learned.
Patiently waiting for new seasons
And Blessed in Great Measure.
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