Seasons

I remember several years ago seeing the saying, "Wouldn't life be much better if we could be like a VCR and just fast forward through the yucky times?"

Sometimes I think life would be better if we could just hit delete and move forward.

However, the other day I heard a story about a pear tree. It's stayed with me.

A father told his four children to go in search of a pear tree. He sent each of them out in different seasons.

To the one who went in the fall in search of the pear tree, they returned telling the father of how lovely the tree was with the tree's leaves a beautiful hue of gold and orange.

To the child who searched for the tree in winter, they returned in despair. They said the tree was nothing but branches and it looked dead.

The child who sought after the tree in spring was elated to find the tree with beautiful and fragrant blossoms. They knew that their sibling must have been mistaken about the dead looking tree and he certainly didn't see any gold or orange leaves. The leaves he saw were a beautiful and lush green color.

Yet, when the child who hunted for the tree in summer returned home, he shared his delight saying that the tree had delicious and sumptuous fruit.

The father said that all four children were correct in the way they described the pear tree. The pear tree goes through seasons looking differently and responding differently in each of those seasons.


So it is with us. While we want to remain beautiful like the pear tree in spring time or useful and purposeful like the pear tree in summer, sometimes we have to go through autumn or winter to prepare us for "the next right thing."

What would be the point in deleting winter if there would be no spring? Let's stay the course through the good and the bad, remembering God's faithfulness in all things.

Showing my autumn leaves,
Lila