A new season...

This morning I was awakened to the nagging  sounds of a puppy that wanted to go outside.  I had the alarm set for 6:45, but it was only 5:48. Lucy knows my usual schedule and felt that I had overslept, I guess.  When I got moving a minute or so later (because she was not giving up on this idea!), I decided she also knew something I hadn't discovered yet...we had just hit a new season.  The air outside was crisp and the wind was blowing.  She loves this time of year!  49*...soooo nice!!  Lucy and Cooper ran, jumped, played, chased and rolled all over each other in the dark yard.  The air seemed to energize them both.  So far this morning she had asked to go outside twice already in just under an hour.  Cooper is just a baby, and never has experienced this time of year before.  He sure seems to like it too.

Made me think about other new seasons I am in also.

Last Sunday morning, I woke up excited too.  It was the day that my son Ryan had planned to propose to his precious girlfiend (now fiance!) Courtney.  There were lots of fun moments that day, all resulting in Courtney agreeing to marry him.  On December 28th, they will become man and wife.  A new season...

Last Monday afternoon, the call came in letting me know that my dad had been rushed to the hospital with a heart attack.  This whole week God has led my family into a place none of us has ever been before.  A world of ICU visits, DNR orders, talks of memorial services.  Thankfully today, my dad is alive and doing fairly well.  We are all much more prepared to handle the days that come now.  We have a plan for the day that he leaves us.  A new season...

Yesterday, I attended the wedding of a couple that attends our church.  As Kyle performed the ceremony, I watched as two families with children all joined hands and committed their new marraige to the Lord.  Two seperate households becoming one.  Two twin brothers now have a new sister.  Children from one parent households now have both a Mom and  a Dad in their home.  For them it is definitely a new season...

My oldest daughter K'Lynn starts her rehearsals for their musical this week.  She is the theater arts teacher at Waco High School.  It is her second year there.  She has taken on the job of  producer, director, counselor, mother, life coach, and mentor to each of the students she works with each day.  For that whole group, this is a new season...

Finally, this week, my baby girl Hannah will turn 16.  I remember the bright eyed baby that she was.  The youth minister's kid that was at every youth event from day one is now actually a valid member of her own youth group.  Not just a member, a leader.  I look into the beautiful eyes of a young woman when I see her now.  She is driving, dating, living, loving, learning, and evolving.  A new season...

There are so many more seasons that I anticipate in the coming days.  Seasons that include weddings and funerals,  new in-laws and grandchildren, loss and joy, new beginings and goodbyes.  I know that God has wonderful plans for my life and the lives of my family.  We will trust Him as we enter each of these.  I will claim Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  I will not fear new seasons, for God brings them for my good.  For today...I am going to make a pot of chili, enjoy the cooler temperatures and look ahead at all God has for me.

 
Be blessed....