The Seasons are Changing: Charlotte to Milwaukee

The seasons are changing.

On a day like today, when I get THREE amazing email updates from seminary friends about their new lives in three different parts of the country, my heart feels warm. They are doing good, they are settling into a new life with new friends and churches and new homes. Their husbands are working in ministry and thriving- so neat to see how the Lord is using these men to bring the gospel forth and expand His kingdom. And I am SO happy for them.

And then I remember how just three short months ago our Charlotte lives were so intertwined. Dinner tables filled with each other, weekends at parents lake homes and condos, husbands who just could not stop talking theology and wives who just could not stop talking about babies and decorating. Now, I would give anything to hear about Mark and Mark and Bradford and Crawford and Brent talk theology, to be back around those dinner tables pouring another glass of wine and soaking up just one more hour. Often, and usually true, seminary is associated with a time of sacrifice; financially, of time, moms having to work who want to stay home, loneliness and isolation for others, the list goes on. We each had our own struggles along the way, some much more significant than others. But for Mike and I, seminary was a season of abundance in so many ways. We certainly made sacrifices, but we were so abundantly blessed. By our family, by our friends, and mostly by our God. Our families took care of us and provided for us in ways we cannot say enough Thank You’s for; taking many financial burdens off our shoulders and buying endless plane tickets and sending care packages with $20 bills that were sweeter than candy. Our friends. Well, our friends became our family. I don’t know how to say it any other way. Our church supported and loved us in countless ways. I learned so much from that community of people; lessons I didn’t want to necessarily learn, but am incredibly grateful for now. Just three months, and so much has changed. We graduated and have taken jobs in all different states all over the country.

I’m okay with the change though. I can see that our next season will look entirely different than the last. I think that helps as we transition into a new season, knowing it will be nothing like the last and allowing our expectations to be totally different. In less than three months we will have a son. We are making new friends, and settling into a new church. And exactly like last season, we are finding ourselves yet again abundantly blessed. I hope you are finding yourself in a season of abundance! I hope your perspective on life is much wider than it is narrow, and that you know the love of Christ and His rich graces each day. 

As the weather starts to turn and the windows stay open all night long, when the leaves are found in the grass and crock pots make their seasonal debut, I always start to reflect on the things I am thankful for. I am so thankful for the places I have lived and the friends along the way. Let's start the season of Thanksgiving now. Let's turn the dinner conversation from the tedious daily grind of the same old into counting the endless reasons we have to be thankful.

Today I am thankful for a healthy baby, whose kicks remind me that God has truly formed a miracle inside me. I am thankful for a husband who buys me dollar ice cream cones from McDonald's to satisfy a craving. I am thankful I get to keep the windows open all night. What are you thankful for in this season?

With Love,
L