Saturday, August 23, 2014

Bumps in the road, thoughts on the seasons we go through.

Perhaps it is like this everywhere, or perhaps we just like to complain a little bit more, but here in Oregon you can never seem to have the right weather.  Everywhere you go people will say “It’s way too hot out there,” or “I just wish it would be warmer.”  “If only this rain would go away and we would have some snow” and then “Please Snow, just go away!” About two days a season people will find the weather just right, and right now is not that time.  With a long warm streak around us and my AC broken you would think I’m one of those people (and some days I am) but mostly I like “strong” weather.  I like my summers warm, my winters cold, my spring wet and my autumn’s crisp and breezy.  I guess I like the promise that each season brings and how unless the summer’s get really hot I don’t truly appreciate a cool autumn day in the same way.  When seasons start to wear out their welcome that’s when I start physically and mentally preparing for the next season to come.
This summer has been much the same for me emotionally as it has been physically.  Some very fun enjoyable days, some very busy days, and many slightly uncomfortable challenging days.  Days where you don’t feel like doing anything, but that doesn’t mean that nothing needs to be done.  Days where you can see big changes ahead, but you can’t do anything to prepare in the mean time.   I have had a lot of ups and downs lately, but I’m determined to look back and grow from all of these situations, even the unpleasant ones.
In a few weeks or a month, or a year it sometimes seems (not really, it should be before October) we will (finally) be moving into a bigger space.  Our family of four plus our business (one that requires the ownership of many large tools) plus hobbies that require much gear, like camping and canoeing, have truly outgrown our 600 square foot trailer and we will be moving into a lovely 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in Philomath, OR right next door to a few of our friends.  I can’t wait! And yet leaving the trailer park means packing up (which I hate), and saying goodbye to the close knit community there.  Though I will still be in close relation with many of those people, it does change daily life more than it may seem.  It has been really fun living in the same park as my sister, two brother in laws and a sister in law, as well as many close friends, including Mikaiah’s bestie Elowen.  Over all however, I think this change will benefit our family in a big way and will finally give me a place to host people again.
Aside from the upcoming move I have had a few of life’s “speeding tickets” as I call them, incidents that could have been avoided by being more careful or aware but that happen anyways and we just have to suck it up and pay for them, one way or another, in the end.  The first of these involved my Yukon, a couple of bikes and a bridge and resulted in a patched up bike for me, a new bike for Seth as well as a big whole in our bank account. You do that math.  The second incident involved my daughter Mikaiah, Seth’s work computer and a cup of water and resulted in a dead mac book.  (We are waiting to hear if it can be revived, but even if it can it sounds as though it won’t be cheap.) 
 My tendency in these situations is to beat myself up overthem, or get frustrated with myself, but this is not helpful.  We pick ourselves up, we learn from our mistakes and we move on.  I cannot say for sure that these things will not count against me in other’s eyes in the future (particularly my husband’s)  but I can choose to stop feeling sorry for myself about it and, as my daughter would say “Let it go.”  This takes effort, every day, every time I face another of these situations, but I’m working on it and it’s helping I think.  Every time I think of the grace that the Lord has for me, and how much he paid to free me from myself and my sin, I realize how ungrateful and truly selfish it is to choose to wallow in my own faults.  I choose to see myself as the Lord sees me, a new creation made in his image.
I don’t want to just survive these unpleasant encounters, I want to learn from them and grow, and just as it is when you have three weeks of 90 degree weather, I want to use them to help me really appreciate the times ahead.  
So whether you, like me, live somewhere with seasons like the Pacific Northwest, or whether you live somewhere like San Diego where the difference between summer and winter is about 5 degrees (just kidding – kind of) I hope that you are able to appreciate the season of life you’re in right now and easy or hard let it prepare you for the time to come.


Just a note:  If you ever have any questions for me or topics you’d like me to write about in a blog, let me know in a comment or email them to me at michelles72@gmail.com. I’m always open to suggestions and appreciate new ideas to write about.  Otherwise I will continue to write about whatever whim comes my way. Thanks for reading!




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