A new appreciation for my soggy pants.

I can never decide on a favorite season.  In the midst of whatever season we are currently in, I always decide it is my favorite season.  I love fall because the leaves turn hot, deep, luminous colors.  I love winter because of the way the snow decorates the barren branches.  I love spring because there is a sense of hope in the green buds adorning the previously barren branches.  I love summer because the trees are at their fullest and greenest. 

There are also parts of the seasons I do not love.  I don’t love the leaves once they are off the branches, soggy, and in need of being raked up.  I don’t love the icy roads that can potentially result in the wrecking of my car.  I don’t love the rain… that lasts for 3 months straight for those of us living in the northwestern region of the country. 

Every season comes with its own set of blessings and “not-so-blessings.” 

Life comes in seasons just like the world around us does.  We have seasons of winter- death, depression, fear, and loneliness.  We have seasons of spring- new life, growth, pruning, and expectations.  We have seasons of summer- fullness, blooming, joy, calmness, and vibrancy.  We have seasons of autumn- change, harvest, prosperity, and crunchiness (well not really, but who doesn’t go out of their way to step on a crunchy leaf?).

Just like Solomon reminds us, there is a season for everything.  (Ecclesiastes 3)

As painful, long, and challenging a season may be, it is important to look for the beauty that comes in that season.  Sometimes I sit at my window during spring and focus only on the fact that is has been raining for literally 78 hours nonstop.  And how that means the bottoms of my pants are eternally wet.  And how that means I am uncomfortable in every class.  And how it makes me depressed. 

And as I sit there thinking through this list of “I hates” about spring, I notice the magnolia tree bursting with countless buds waiting to bloom. 

Maybe spring isn’t all that bad.  Maybe there is a purpose to all this rain.  Maybe if I took the time to realize how those buds came to be on that tree, I would find a new appreciation for my soggy pants. 

The same is true for my life.  The current season I am walking through is not the easiest.  I find myself laying in bed thinking about how things are not turning out how I planned.  And I begin to feel anxious, worried, angry, confused, and lost.  But what if I took the time to realize what will come from this season?

Already in the midst of this season, I have seen God working.  I have seen Him using this time to change me, grow me, and use me. 

Seasons are a part of life and necessary for growth.  A tree would never grow or even survive if it were not for the seasons.  In the same way, we cannot grow without being put through seasons.  As new seasons come, with their blessings and pain, try to see the good.  Nothing happens outside of God’s will and we can rest assured that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). 

Left with a barren orchid

I love flowers.  I love receiving flowers, putting them in a vase, placing them on my desk, and smiling every time I see them.  They bring me joy.  So what else would my sister bring me on my birthday but flowers?  She has bought me flowers on my birthday for as long as I can remember and this past year, she even bought me a living orchid.  It was stunning.  At one point and there were over 30 flowers and buds on the branches.  I was careful to follow the instructions that came with the orchid (place by a northern facing window, water every 7-10 days, don’t overwater, etc.) to prolong the life of this beloved birthday present.

I loved my orchid.  I loved seeing it on my desk everyday.  I loved knowing Sherry had thought about what I would like to have sitting on my desk while I worked on lesson plans, read books about “exceptional and diverse students,” and wrote papers about my philosophy of education. 

Somewhere in the chaos of packing my bags to go home for Christmas, I forgot about my orchid.  I did not take my orchid home, so it sat on my desk waterless for nearly a month. 

Upon arriving back at school, I saw my orchid and panicked.  Surrounding the pot and scattered on my desk were sad white flowers and buds.  I quickly watered my plant and tried to revive it during the ensuing days back at school.  It was a futile effort.  Slowly but surely, the remaining buds fell off the branches and I was left with a barren orchid. 

The orchid now sits on my desk with sad, brown, wilted branches.  It no longer brings me joy like it used to.  In fact, it makes me a little sad.  I am sad I failed to give it the attention and nurturing it needed to survive. 

I decided to do some research on how to bring my orchid back from the dead and discovered that I must cut off the dead branches.  They no longer bear me joyful white flowers, but only hang there with a sense of hopelessness.  According to what I found on google, by cutting off the dead braches, the orchid will use its energy and the nutrients it draws up to produce a new branch which (in time) will bring me flowers again.

Sometimes there are things in our lives that start by bringing us joy.  These can be hobbies, relationships, lifestyles, or other supposedly “good” things.  But sometimes these things turn from bringing us fruit in our lives to becoming a life-sucking branch. 

As hard as it is to face, sometimes we just need to cut off the branches that have stopped bearing us white flowers.  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:1-2).

Let’s be honest here, sometimes cutting off those branches that used to seem so good can be extremely painful.  It took me a couple minutes to muster up the courage to cut off the dead, brown branches of my orchid.  How much more courage will it take to see the “branches” in my life cut off?  Even though these metaphorical dead braches hang in my life with the same sense of hopelessness that my orchid has, I hesitate to see them go.  The best thing we can do is to realize the benefit that will come from pruning.  By pruning away what has become unfruitful, we are given more strength to bear fruit where we can. 

When God prunes you, do not become bitter or resentful, but embrace what He has in store for the new life it will bring.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).