It’s a regular Monday in October, I’m seated at my desk responding to emails when the chattering sound of Noah and Bee breaks through the studious office. Regular office visits have become a staple in Noah’s routines, as have Wednesday Uno games, Friday night walks to the park, and Saturday night pizza. Today they’re discussing trick or treating as they enter, as that is Noah’s theme for the week. Last week it was bats.
We all turn our chairs to greet them, and when we do, I notice Noah’s socks. White, with red lips all over them. I tell him, “Nice kissy socks, Noah!” He looks down, shocked to discover that he’s wearing Valentine’s Day socks when it is in the middle of October. “Oh my gosh it’s not Valentine’s Day!” he exclaims while chuckling at himself.
This is something Noah continuously reminds me of: there is a time for everything, and everything should be in its time. Noah reminds our whole community of this regularly. For instance, earlier this year we kicked off a new community event called, “Soup Night,” where we all gather and make soup.
When summer came, it was Noah who suggested that soup isn’t for the summer and we should call it something different, thus resulting in a name change to “Summer Cookout.” Now that it is fall again, we have appropriately returned to calling the event “Soup Night.”
Nature has also been reminding me that there is a season for everything. Crops are being harvested, leaves are changing colors, some are beginning to fall, and the days are getting shorter. Nature is preparing for a time of rest and hibernation. I am tempted to push against life’s natural cycle of busyness and slowness.
I love the excitement of new growth and grow stir-crazy with the quiet, slower seasons. However, there are opportunities in slower seasons of life that are not available elsewhere. One of those is space for cultivating gratitude. Reflecting on the past summer and all the
gifts it’s held, I am filled with gratitude for this community and
the people who have surrounded me with joy.
“For everything, there is a season.” The rest and hibernation
of fall and winter won’t last forever, and before we know it, it will be February and time for kissy socks and valentines and the new life of spring following soon after. So for now, I’m going to follow Noah’s lead and honor this season with slowing down and thankfulness.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2