seasons

For the past year, the introduction to my blog has said that I am entering a new season in my life. I have slightly adjusted that because I feel I am in the midst of that season now. I do not believe it is ending yet, but rather I think that season is ripening. Among the reasons for this:

~We are now settled in our new home after many trials and several lessons in patience (I will not tell you of the remaining mystery boxes I need to deal with). There are many weeks we still tweak the way things are arranged, choose curtains for a room, etc, but progress has been made.

~The struggles we knew we would face and have to cope with (like finances and health issues) are beginning to find survivable grooves somehow. I am still hoping to find a job that will give allow me to work when my husband is home with the kids; if there is one, I trust the Lord will arrange it at the right time. Until then, I am beginning to rest in the peace my God affords me, regardless of the outward circumstances.

~We have had our son in therapy for a year now for his Sensory Processing Disorder; we have weathered serious upheavals which caused us to changed therapists last spring, and mostly we rejoice in improvements and strive to keep learning. I still feel I need a degree to understand him sometimes, and finding the correct reason and solution for a specific behavior/issue he has can challenge me to no end (especially when those needs can change very frequently, and vary like a pendulum). But, we are all growing in this new world of his, and hopefully each one of us is (slowly) coping better.

In addition, we have noticed in our years of marriage that there are seasons of death that seem to cycle through. It appears we have entered one of those seasons once more. About a week ago a dear friend of my father’s died. It was not sudden, but both of my parents have lost a great many of their closest friends in the last decade, and it makes my heart ache deeply.

I have mentioned before that my husband’s grandparents are not doing well. His grandfather has lung cancer, currently at Stage I and treatment has been relatively successful. However, his grandmother’s stomach cancer is now in Stage III. She is scheduled for surgery early in the morning. Things do not look good for her, and tomorrow will be long for everyone.

There are other deaths and serious illnesses that are not so close to us, but close to our friends. In a subtle way, it feels as though a shadow has been cast across our path right now. Don’t get me wrong; while death is very much painful, I also believe it to be normal and a part of life’s cycle. However, believing that in no way takes away the sadness and hurt that follow.