Different Seasons

Winter is here, valley style that is! The days are in the 70s and it is lovely. Our winters probably would not qualify as winter elsewhere, but we’ll take it! I do love the juxtaposition of the crepe myrtle and its empty branches against the bright green of the palm fronds. The bamboo has stopped shooting up shoots and the leaves are beginning to fall, but at the base of one stand of bamboo a sweet lily is just going to town! There are bulbs pushing through the bamboo litter and soon we will have flowers!

Speaking of flowers, I checked on the lilies today, the one under the bamboo is the happy camper, but the other one on the other side isn’t so happy. It has the same water and sun…but it isn’t under the bamboo, it is sitting in the middle of the path wall. It is in the same space, but it doesn’t seem to be doing as well with where it finds itself.

The Bible talks about seasons, about how we all go thru different seasons of life…and here in this season, in the labyrinth, the responses to this season are very different. Guess we’re like that, too. Happy, sad, prosperous, lacking, full and busy seasons do bring out different aspects of ourselves. One very obvious difference between us and those lilies tho’, is that we can uproot ourselves and move within the ‘place’ we find ourselves. Same people, same circumstance, but change our soul’s position. I know I’ve used this verse before, but a phrase caught my attention a little differently today….

Jesus explained a profound truth through this metaphor, but they did not understand His teaching. So He explained further.

(The Voice Version)

 Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again.

(The Message Version)

John 10:6&7

So He explained further, He tried again…As I stood there today looking at the ‘differences’ around me this phrase kept going thru my head.

No matter my position in a season, no matter our focus, our placement…It is His voice that calls out over the confusion, He keeps explaining, He keeps reaching into our ‘space’ to get our attention and teach us to flower in the winters…