Season are Changing…

One of my favorite things are when the seasons change, especially the transition from summer to fall.

The leaves start changing color.

The air starts to chill.

 

There is a beauty in the ending of one season and beginning of another.

As the seasons change here in GA I find myself in a changing of seasons.

I have been with Adventures in Missions for almost 5 years now. I remember driving down to GA from PA with my parents.

This would be the first time I would live outside Pennsylvania in my 25 years of life. This would be the first time I would truly call another state, another place, home….

…and in those moments crossing into GA, driving towards a place I would set down roots, develop deep friendships and grow in more ways than I could have ever thought….I felt at home.

 

 

This feeling of “Home” was something that I had never before experienced outside of Pennsylvania……..and it was a gift.

Driving in my car towards Adventures in Missions and my first semester in their discipleship program(The Center for Global Action) I started to weep over that feeling…

That feeling that I had never felt before outside of PA.

That feeling that was a gift from the Lord.

That feeling that I knew that I was coming “Home” and that I would be ok.

That feeling that even though this place was completely new to me, the Lord was saying that this is where I am meant to be.

 

 

In that moment…that feeling…I wept. I wept because it was one of the most beautiful gifts the Lord could have given me in that moment. I didn’t know at that time that the next 5 years would bring countless deep friendships, challenges, laughter and tears.   

But I did know that I was home.

That I would be ok.

And in that moment, that was enough for me.

Fast forward almost 5 years and I am in the midst of another changing of seasons. We are entering into fall down here in GA and as the Lord does a lot of times, He uses physical events to represent spiritual changes in our lives.

I am entering into a season of deeper intimacy with the Father. One where He is asking me to do less talking and more sitting with Him. To become more dependent on Him. To move when He moves and not move knowing He will move with me. Taking a backseat and letting Him drive.

 

 

With this new seasons comes sacrifice and learning. I am gaining new perspective in what it means to die to my flesh daily, to choose Him over other things in my life and to get a better glimpse of what spiritual warfare is and how to fight.

With the fall comes the dying of things so new things can come in the spring. 

John 15:2 says – “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

I feel like the Lord is taking me into a season of pruning where some things in my life have to die in order for more fruit to be had later. While no-one really looks forward to these things because they hurt, I am looking forward to the fruit that will come. Two verses later in John the Lord promises us fruit if we remain in Him.

 

…So I look will endure the pain for that fruit that is to come.