Monday Motivation: Seasons

Friends

Are you someone who enjoys the changing seasons, or would you prefer things to never change?

 

+++

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:”

Ecclesiastes 3:1 – NIV

 

North Carolina is a four-season state. Here, we enjoy the quiet of winter before it gives way to the glory of spring. The pleasant days of spring soon slide into the hot sunshine of summer, and summer ushers in the beauty of fall. I adore all four seasons, relishing the unique beauty and blessings of each.

 

Life also has its seasons. The wonder of childhood shifts to the angst  of adolescence. There are the foot-loose, fancy-free college days, but soon it’s time to enter the workforce. Romance and courtship slip easily into the honeymoon years, but before you know it, the season shifts to parenthood. Blink once, and your baby is graduating high school. Blink twice, and your precious son is 32. Where did the time go?

 

Seasons come, and go. Instead of mourning the loss of a passing season, particularly those seasons that are especially precious, I have found it wiser to embrace each season as it comes, cherishing the good, weathering the hard, receiving it all with a thankkful and trusting heart.

 

Five years ago, my husband Eric and I embarked on a new season of our shared life together. This season began in January  of 2019. About eighteen months earlier, Eric had joined me in retirement, and we began to explore what hobbies and activities we would pursue in this new season. It turned out that the verb “explore” was an apt descriptor, because “explore” is exactly what we decided to do. We had been bit by the travel bug early in our married life, and we were blessed to continue our travels even after our son Jonathan came along. Now, with more time on our hands, we decided it was time to pack up and hit the road.

 

That’s how we ended up at the local RV show on a weekend in mid-January of 2019. That’s how our truck ended up pulling a 23-ft travel trailer out of an RV dealership parking lot two weeks later.

 

I remember every squeak and groan of that new trailer hitch as we made our first turn onto the main road. I can still recall the thudding of my heart as we felt that new trailer sway in the speed and wind of the interstate. Had we lost our minds? Was this a good idea?

 

It was a good idea, a most excellent idea. We named our tiny camper “Mettie Jane” after a much beloved camper-savvy cousin of mine, hoping all the while that we would have half as much fun as she and her husband Gerald had enjoyed during their years on the road. With a lot of research and a little trial and error, we soon mastered the art of camping.

 

We took 10 local trips in Mettie Jane the first year, and then we hit the road in earnest. Our first cross-country trip  in 2020 took us to the amazing sights of the Great Southwest, experiencing the incredible beauty of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. 2021 found us traveling along the coast of the Great Northern waterways Of Lakes Michigan and Superior on our way through the Dakotas to Montana. The 2022 adventure was the most daring of all, journeying all the way from NC to the Pacific Coast of Washington State, to the tune of 10 weeks and 10,600 miles. Eric and I have also checked out the East Coast in our little camper, sampling countless sites in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Nettie Jane has spent the night in 36 states, visiting 27 units of the National Park system, including 21 National Parks. The best we can figure is that little travel trailer has navigated more than 50,000 miles in the past 5 years, and Eric and I have spent more than a year’s worth of nights in its cozy confines. Kind of crazy, isn’t it?

 

Still, seasons change, even when their passing tugs at our heartstrings a bit. This past week, we traded our beloved travel trailer in for a new 28-ft fifth wheel RV. The new RV is a 2024 Keystone Cougar that checked all our boxes on the camper wish list. We are thrilled about this new travel option, and know that the fifth wheel format will be a huge help for Eric’s back pain challenges. Yet, we can’t help but feel a little sad to see our precious “Mettie Jane” leave our driveway. We have had such good times, so many adventures, in that camper, and it brings a tear to my eye to see her go.

 

But seasons change, and we have to change with them. We must choose to embrace what comes next. We must trust God with our futures, believing that His plans for us are for good, to give us a future and a hope.

Life is moving on, and we are moving with it, exceedingly grateful for every rich blessing and every fabulous adventure. Friends, 2024 stretches out before us. Let us step out in faith and see what God has in store for those who love him, for those who know His Name. May we embrace this new season, and make it count!

 

+++

““ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’”

Numbers 6:24-26 – NIV

 

PRAYER

O Loving Heavenly Father, how good You are to bless us, how gracious You are to show us Your unfailing love. Thank You for the rich joys of this earthly life, and thank You for the joy of knowing Jesus. Walk with us into this new season, showing us the way and blessing our steps.

In the Precious Name of Jesus, we offer our thanks and praise,

Amen

 

New Year’s Blessings,

Anita

 

-APS 1/22/2024