Welcome my friend, come on in & we’ll enjoy a lovely cuppa together in my Spring garden here on the east coast of Australia.

Today the sun is shining, the birds are chirping & the cloudless sky is an azure blue, all seems right with the world in this moment.

We are sitting surrounded by Azaleas, Rhododendrons, African daisies, Blue Bells, beautiful purple & blue Match Stick Bromeliads & our strawberry plants are bearing fat ripe strawberries.

I have a selection of teas & a plate of treats for us to enjoy. Now we’re settled let us begin…

Seasons

Seasons come & go…don’t they? At the moment the Southern Hemisphere is in Spring while the Northern Hemisphere is in Autumn.

I’m sure we’re all well aware of the four seasons, the different seasons of life & the seasons that are related to aging.

You may remember Season is my word for this year, while I haven’t written about it in a while, I have been learning some valuable lessons around this theme.

Recently, I dropped by Lisa’s who has a Word of the year link up & she proposed the following (my interpretation) to;

1. Look up the meaning of your word/theme.

& ask yourself the following questions;

1. Does this meaning change how you view this word?
2. Does this meaning give you a new idea for practicing your word?

Hmmm…great suggestions.

So thinking that the meaning of Season was pretty straight forward, I thought I’d look it up anyhow as it couldn’t hurt…right?

On looking up Season I saw the two meanings I already knew, that of the four seasons & to season food.

However, there were more meanings in fact another two!

One being a series of events within a Season (ie. episodes) & the following which is the one that really struck me;

 The Seasoning of timber, felled timber is held in a waiting period for it to Season until it’s ready for its purposeful use (it has to have just the right moisture content, in other words it needs to lose moisture for any purposeful use). 

Hmmmm….Wow!

What really jumped off the screen to me were the following words, ‘held in a waiting period until it’s ready for its purposeful use.’

Why?

Well for a long time now hubby & I feel that we’ve been in just such a season, you see both of us are in early retirement, due to chronic health conditions.

We had thought that we would continue to work in our respective professions until we stepped into Heaven.

Unfortunately, we went from being very busy people to well retirement literally overnight but not at the same time, I went first.

While my husband, who could see the writing on the wall (God’s clear direction) that with his health issues & the physical demands of his work in the Building Industry at the time were not going to be a continuing combination.

So he set about retraining into a less physically demanding job, a profession in the medical field. Excelling in his degree & clinical prac which he enjoyed immensely.

Sadly, during this time we lost our son in law in a horrific car accident & six months later hubby lost his Dad due to another devastating accident.

Hubby’s health markedly declined at the end of this period & with another chronic diagnosis, he too had to take early retirement. Which was a devastating blow & a most difficult situation to grasp for both of us.

So you can see why we’re feeling that we’ve been placed into a Season of waiting… the feeling of being in a prolonged Winter.

While we acknowledge the amazing work & blessings that God has been doing in this Season.

We feel that God has something more for us ahead. Although we have no idea at this point what that is or when that will happen. But we trust that He will reveal it to us in His perfect time.

Getting back to Lisa’s suggestions…

Does this meaning change how you view this word?

Yes, it has! The meaning of being set aside to Season has enriched my world beyond measure. Knowing that we are in this time of waiting until the right time comes for His purpose is comforting.

Does it give you a new idea for practicing your word? 

Yes, knowing that we are being Seasoned for God’s purpose has given me renewed inspiration & insight.

Especially insight into what God is doing in our lives during this season, which has been far deeper spiritually then I had even imagined.

Thinking of the timber needing to lose its excess moisture to be ready for its purposeful use has given me the following analogy, that we too need to ‘let go of the thoughts, dreams & things of the past,’ to be ready for His future purpose.

As Isaiah 43:18-19 tells us,

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Do you have a word or theme for the year my friend? What has God being teaching you?

I’d love to hear about it, please share in the comments below.

Until next time,

Jennifer

You’re most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook

Or in Prayer

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