Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A Tribute to My Favorite Season

Although Fall is here and I am loving everything about it, I'm not talking about Fall today.  My favorite season is not a season of the year - It's a season of my life.  A season that has just recently ended:  the season of my life spent in Southern Illinois.
 
The most meaningful part of this season are the people who were in it.  Wonderful, loving, supportive people!
 
Many of you have come across some version of the poem "Reason, Season, or a Lifetime."  It's a poem that provides a neat perspective on the people that come in and out of your life.  The author talks about people who come into your life for a reason and then move on, people who are in your life a season of time and then move on, and people who are in your life forever.
 
The poem suggests that the people who are in your life for a reason fulfill some need you have expressed, and when that need is met, they move on.  When someone is your life for a season, they usually bring you great joy and your time with them is very meaningful...but seasons change and your time with them comes to an end.  And those who are in your life for a lifetime are with you until the very end.

Now while I know our season of life in Southern Illinois is over, I have no doubt our friendships from that season are for a lifetime.  Our friendships have obviously changed, but they will never end.  Those people are my family, and family doesn't quit being family when someone moves away.

I'm feeling very sentimental about that family today because the kids and I are getting ready to travel to our old house and spend one last day there before it's not ours anymore.  Tomorrow is closing day, and a part of me feels like everything about that season of life is about to officially end forever.  But I know in my heart that is not true.  Our relationships are not over, they're just different now.

And while I'm sad for the end of the season, I'm also excited for the new season to come.  Not only do I get to keep those frienships and have a plethora of great memories to look back on, I get to start making more lifelong friendships and creating more memories with my family.  We've accepted the changes, adjusted to our new lives here, and can finally enjoy the new people and things around us.

But sometimes it physically hurts that I don't get to be a part of my old friends' every day lives anymore.  I am so very grateful for the Southern Illinois season and everything about it will always have a special place in my heart.  That season marked the first five years of my marriage and all the growth that comes with those first years.  That season marked the birth of my children.  During that season, my husband beat cancer.  That season was full of spiritual growth because of a wonderful church, a great preacher, and meaningful Bible study and fellowship with our church family.  It marked the birth of many of those people's children and grandchildren, the amazing people I got to raise my children with.

I would not trade those years for anything.  And I will not let those friendships slip away.  They mean so much to me and again, I am so very grateful for those people.  Each and every one of them!  I sure hope they know that!


 

1 comment:

  1. Carrie, I am glad to be part of your SI family and have missed you. I am so glad that you have learned this hard lesson and are more than ready to enjoy this new season of your life. May God continue to bless you and your family. Cindy

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