Two lovers on my deck, what could this mean?
My two friends have returned, which is a promising sign of spring. The friends I am referring to are mourning or "turtle" doves. My feathered friends are easy to spot since they sit on the top rail of my deck and often mosey around my deck right up to the house. They also love to sit in my neighbors' tree, cooing the day away.
In our area, most doves fly south for the winter and return with the promise of spring. The chubby little birds mate for life, which isn't that long, and return each year to the same nesting place. They have nested in the framework under my second story deck will mate and produce two to five broods in a season. The gray/brown little couple are a welcome sight.
As I sit in my front room writing chair, I can also hear robins chirping, a sure sign of spring. There are buds on the maple trees, and my tulips are peeking through the soil already. Before long, I'll be enjoying the view from my deck along with my two nesting pals.
Life arrives in seasons, and no two are ever the same though they possess similar characteristics. What season are you experiencing?
James Clear, the author of the top-rated book, Atomic Habits, explains, "Life is a series of seasons, and what works in one season may not work in the next.
What season are you in right now? What habits does that season require?"
These are great questions. Each year, sometime in December, the weather turns cold, and a few flakes trickle from the sky. There is nearly always at least once when I can't believe it is so chilly, but then it dawns on me, "Well, it is, after all Hamilton, December in Pennsylvania." A new season has crept up on me again, which means my clothing choices will start changing, and I'll dig out the snow shovel from the overhead in my garage.
Sometimes a new period in your life has dawned, but you are missing it. Some chapters end abruptly while others gradually change, like spring into summer. Then comes that one moment when viola, we recognize that a new chapter has begun. Discomfort accompanies new seasons. "I need to get a jacket on!" It is time for some new clothing, a new outlook, a change in how we do some tasks, a time to slow down or perhaps speed up. Every new season presents fresh challenges and opportunities, and it is okay to feel a little out of sorts during this period.
The approaching end to my last season, on the one hand, was very well planned, and I knew it was coming and thoughtfully considered what I wanted to accomplish before I turned that page. I had five significant goals I felt necessary to leave my thirty-eight-year ministry healthy, and I completed them all.
Are you nearing the end of a season? If you are, what do you want or need to do to look back on that chapter with peace and pleasure? What will enable you to lay your head on the pillow six months into the new season and reflect, saying, “_______, you dun good!” By the way, some of your goals, like financial planning, must start several seasons earlier, or they will not happen. Negligence in the first season can return to haunt you in the last.
On the other hand, I turned that page without my dear wife, which made the last few years of the previous season discombobulated and troubled. However, Gail and I knew what would likely transpire from her illness, so we spent much time and energy planning for that reality. My personal history is marked clearly, "With Gail/Without Gail. Our hard work during difficult times is still paying off for me now. I might add that she finished her final season with flying colors!
No matter how well you plan and execute the end of a season, you will naturally look back with a bit of sadness and some pleasure. New periods almost always involve change, and most of us don't much like change. Jesus was wise about this issue when he stated that no one has tasted of the old likes the new, for he says that the old is better. Often, our recent experiences are neither "better" nor "worse," they are just different, and different can be uncomfortable.
The first few months of my departure from the pastorate were sometimes unsettling. How could it not be this way since I'd done pretty much the same job for nearly forty years? It is easy to get caught in the looking back trap during periods like these. We mourn what we lose, and if we let it get the best of us, we will miss the freshness and joy of the new season. The Apostle Paul addressed this issue when from a Roman prison cell he wrote, ". . . But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, "14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13b-14 NIV)
One day, I was in my writing chair contemplating my new condition – retired! What?! When did I get that old? Retirement is for old people, and that is certainly not me. I looked back at my career, and to my utter surprise, the Lord impressed upon my spirit a message that was about as clear as I have ever received from him. It was something like this. "(Forcefully) Don, stop looking backward. You served well, and you carried out your calling with passion. You made plenty of mistakes, but taken as a whole, I am pleased with you. I don't ever want you to look wistfully backward at the last season. Vibrant Church is in your past. It was never your church in the first place, and I think I can handle it without you." Well, okay then, I guess we got that cleared up!
If you keep looking in the rear-view mirror, you will miss the beautiful scenery you are approaching. Are you in a new season, embrace it and enjoy it for all it is worth. If it is a difficult season, face it head-on and with the help of family and friends. One day the struggle will be a memory. Even storms have their beauty.
So, what will it take to finish this season well and start a new one with gusto? Figure it out, write it down, and go after it with passion.
I'm headed into the kitchen and will see my two feathered lovers. Spring has sprung! (Well, kinda. It is supposed to snow Saturday! But they are saying back to 72 degrees by next Friday.)
Live Inspired!
Don Mark
