Shoulder Season
Today in the woods I am reminded Mother Nature has a timeline all her own.
Last week the birds were chirping, the snow melting and we all felt the warmth of the sun on our pale skin as we dared the outdoors in nothing but shirtsleeves.
This Monday we were greeted with sub freezing temperatures and a wind that bit ones ears.
Well isn’t that often the way of life; two steps forward, one step back.
As I walk the trail I notice the ground underfoot, even though clear of snow, is still frozen hard. Looks can be deceiving.
Though I think Mother Nature is ready for spring and my heart and body are screaming for the change of season, there is patience to be had. The rhythms of nature cannot be rushed. We must live out the natural process of the earth warming and change coming.
If only I could be patient with this season of my own life.
Everything in my universe is calling me to “be where I am.” Yet I am anxious to get to the next season.
Having spent the last two decades actively raising children and tending to the homefront, I have felt a stirring these past few years and I yearn for what is next.
Even in my own story, Mother Nature is taking her measured time.
I have three of four twenty somethings still living at home. My youngest took a gap year this year before heading off to college. There is often a family “situation” which needs tending. And I have “tried on” a few job opportunities but to no lasting avail.
So today in the woods, as I lifted up prayers for purpose and clarity, God showed me in nature what I am having a hard time remembering in my own small world.
Everything in its due time.
And often there is a back and forth of progress and rest.
We have entered “shoulder season” here in New England. We have emerged from deep winter and also know true spring is still a few weeks away.
As I relish the melting snow and the two steps forward, I endeavor to embrace my own shoulder season.
I work to have grace in the waiting.
And on my best days, I curiously and joyously anticipate the coming warmth, blossoms and color of Mother Nature’s next season and my own.
