Seasons

I read this story on another blog and it was so convicting I thought I would share it here as well.....

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted them to learn to not judge things too quickly, so he sent them each on a quest to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

He sent his first son in the winter, his second in the spring, his third in the summer and his youngest in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent and twisted.
The second son said no - the tree was covered with green buds and full of promise.
The third son disagreed and said the tree was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.
The last son disagreed with all of them: he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

After hearing all his son's responses the wise father replied, "Son's you are all right-because you have each seen only one season in the tree's life. But you cannot judge a tree, or a person, or anything else by only one season. Most things can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons have come to pass."

We all know how much it hurts to be judged unfairly or prematurely. I have been walking through a season with someone close to me that has been ultra confusing at times and super easy to pass judgement at other times. It is so easy to get caught up in the moment of trying to decipher truth that I forget to recognize the season at hand. Some seasons make absolutely no sense. Some seasons are really long. Some are really fruitful. Some are seasons of loss. There are seasons of restoration. Seasons of hope and life.

Sometimes I feel so devoid of wisdom. I desire to slow things down in my mind and in my life so that I operate out of a place of allowing His wisdom to flow from me. This picture of a fruit tree will stay with me forever. I am a picture kind of girl! That is why God so often speaks to me in dreams I think. Because the pictures stay filed away forever!

As I look out my window this afternoon at the beautiful snow and the barren trees I am again remembering that there is a time and season for everything. Kind of a theme in my life right now I guess. The long days of wiping noses, getting the perpetual drinks and snacks, endless laundry......it is a season. There is joy to be found in every season because my source of joy is unchanging!