I opened the driver’s side door and climbed out of our SUV. I was met with the fresh smelling breeze of an Oklahoma March. It was my favorite time of year.
I opened the back door and unclipped my son’s clunky car seat from its base. His three month old grin was still new, but was becoming less intimidating by the day. As we walked towards the house, I took a quick notice of the tree above. Fresh growth. Tiny white blooms had erupted across the previously barren branches. A hint. The seasons were changing.
My husband and I made the decision to move back to his small hometown just a few days later. His dad was having serious health issues, and all at once, moving to help with the family business just felt right. We had a very little baby, and I was finally gaining some confidence in my new role as a mom. But just as I was beginning to feel like I knew what I was doing, everything changed. There was no denying that God was moving us into a new season of life.
I wish that I could finish this story with how simple the move was for our family. I wish I could tell you that we found a home and signed a contract and moved in. But that’s not our story. I can tell you that we ended up living with my in-laws in my husband’s old bedroom (with our baby) for the next six months. After exhausting a search for a suitable house, we finally decided to build, and there seemed to be struggle after struggle with that process as well. There were more times than I care to admit that I questioned if this was the right idea and wondered if this was really God’s plan for us.
Sometimes, the worst stories make the best lessons.
What I learned through this process is that you can’t keep leaves on trees. Can you? You can’t push a tree to bloom early. No matter how hard you try to change it, the tree will bud and bloom and grow and shed its leaves at the appropriate times. There is no reason to panic about it. We don’t have to worry. No one looks around when the leaves start to fall and try to put them back. We don’t gather our friends and say, “I just don’t know what is happening. The leaves are falling. I am just not ready.” The seasons change without our say. The hardest thing to realize is that the most we can do is watch.
Sometimes, the same is true of our lives.
I might not have been prepared for the changes that came, but I could no more stop them than I could hold a leaf on a tree. It is often our opinion that if things do not transition smoothly, then perhaps God is missing from it all. We doubt and forget that old leaves must fall before new can grow. We forget that the shedding of old leaves isn’t a reason to mourn, but a promise! It is a promise that beneath still branches something new is forming. Hope. The good news is that the Lord ordains it all.
He sees the end, because He has been there. He has been to tomorrow and yet walks with us through today. He is the perfect guide. Long before the tree gives us clues, our Father knows the plan. There is no one better to trust. Not ourselves. Not our circumstances. Not even the counsel of the wise. When everything seems to say, “no,” as long as God is saying, “yes,” we press forward. It is why we stay close to the tree.
It’s always easier to look back and realize that we are glad that we have arrived in a new season. It is always easier to be glad in the Spring that we shed our old leaves in the Fall. Today, I find myself in that place.
On this first morning of November, as I stood under a bright red tree with a skirt of fallen amber leaves, I was finally sure. I thought way back to the tender little white flowers on branches of days gone by, and I thanked the Lord for holding all of my seasons in His hands. He knew exactly what He was doing. I am so grateful to where He has brought us.
And the same is true for you. You the one who knows this was written for you – the one who needed to hear that He is in control. It is a letter from heaven for you, my friend. He is saying, “Trust Me. When things change suddenly, trust Me. When there are no options, trust Me. When life isn’t what you thought it would be, trust Me. I see you. I know you. I have a plan.”
Let Him take your burden of doubt and replace it with joy…. “For we know who holds tomorrow and we know who holds our hand.”
Pass on a little hope… click below.
