Turn, turn, turn, for everything there is a season

If summer resisted fall, it wouldn't really be summer or fall.

Better to celebrate the season you're in... especially those of your wonderful life. 

But maybe your life is not so wonderful now, maybe you’re in a season of transition, grief, conflict, illness, new challenges, or just trying to get by.

Ever tried to be a gardener? Many of have and those of us who have worked with the soil understand dirt holds a certain magic, cradling new life

Whatever season you’re in, there’s one way to live your season well: embrace it. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to love it; it simply means letting it be. Your past mistakes, your heartache, your circumstances, and the tension you feel right now in your season—every bit of it is part of your growing ground.

Here are some reasons to embrace the season you’re in:

1. Your season may turn into a time of growth if you are willing to dig in right and accept it. Fighting the seasons is like wearing shorts in the winter. I have done that but only when I have changed my winter for summer by changing hemispheres. Normally I would not recommend wearing shorts in winter.

2. Your season might be preparing you for what’s next.

After any struggle in life or battle with illness, we come out on the other side better prepared to face what is next. I talked to a person who had survived a fire with 40% burns all over his body. He said that his survival prepared him to face whatever would be thrown at him next. He was very positive.

3. Your season might surprise you!

Fighting your season and grumbling in your heart might make you miss the good things life is throwing at you: perhaps new opportunities, new relationships, new paths, or new dreams that are far better than anything you could imagine.

4. Your season may have something to not only to teach you, but also to teach someone else.

Productive relationships aren’t about us, and perhaps that trial you are going through was meant to grow you and others.

5. Your season may bring life-giving memories later on.

When my mother died, it was hard to cope, but she gave us a gift of herself through her journals and her diaries that she kept and which were shared with us after she died. Her death was hard, but through it, she gave us a glimpse of the person she was and I am thankful that she shared with us.

6. Your season may fly by when you begin to see it as a gift.

Now, let me say that this is hard to do. This is incredibly challenging. But those who accept the situation can perhaps begin to see a path through.

7. Your season may teach you an essential life skill: how to embrace change.

To grow what matters in your life, just as you grow flowers in a garden, get your hands dirty, digging in right where you are. Growing what matters takes doing something that is counterintuitive to how we usually operate: embracing change. We choose to embrace change, imperfect progress, and imperfect circumstances which allows us to embrace change.

8. Your season may help you come alive!

Humans need to grow, change, and learn over time, through different seasons—not all at once. The truth is, I like you am fearful at times I know I am not perfect but as I have faced many times of transformation in my life, I have learned to trust myself and embrace change

9. Your season will not last forever, but it might have something really good for you that you don’t want to miss by fighting the season you’re in, fighting the changes, or fighting what feels imperfect. Dig in right where you are.

For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted.

Remember, everything keeps getting better,