“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1
This season of life has had me reflecting deeply, thinking about where I am now while revisiting so many memories from the past. I find myself remembering the good times most: the funny things my children said when they were little, the little moments that once seemed ordinary, and how young they all looked. Then suddenly, I blinked… and somehow my daughter is getting married, and my firstborn son graduated high school.
What? How did this happen? How did we get here so quickly?
This present season has been filled with both beauty and pain, joyful moments, celebrations, victories, losses, grief, and everything in between. I’ve learned that two things can exist at the same time: life can be incredibly beautiful while also being deeply difficult. There is gratitude for the ordinary blessings of life and the beautiful milestones the Lord allows us to experience, while at the same time carrying a quiet grief for seasons that have passed.
There is something bittersweet about watching your family grow, mature, and pursue dreams you once prayed over. You celebrate who they are becoming while grieving the moments that have passed. Sometimes I look back and wish I had paused more, worried less, and soaked in the little moments instead of constantly checking things off a list or putting pressure on myself to be the best mom, wife, daughter, friend, and employee all at once while simply trying to survive the demands of life.
My heart is full when I think about my children, where they are in their lives, the accomplishments they have made and carry an excitement for their future, for what God has for them. And yet, as full as my heart is, there is still grief tucked inside it. Grief for a childhood season that has passed. Grief for the younger versions of my children that I can never hold again. My husband and I spent years preparing them for adulthood, but no amount of preparation takes away the ache of realizing those childhood years are over.
Why are we like this as women? We remember beautiful moments and somehow cry, laugh, smile, and grieve all at the same time. We wonder where the time went while wishing we could rewind it just a little longer. Sometimes we even carry guilt for not slowing down more or spending more time fully present. But that is part of life, the changing seasons, the lessons, the failures, the victories, the stretching, and the growth both spiritually and personally.
For all the mamas watching their children graduate, get married, move away, or enter new seasons of life, my heart and prayers are with you. I understand how beautiful and heavy it all feels at the same time. There is so much joy in watching the prayers we once whispered over our children begin to unfold before our eyes, yet there is also a quiet ache that comes with realizing how quickly time passes.
If your heart feels full while also grieving the seasons that are gone, you are not alone. These transitions remind us that motherhood is filled with constant surrender, growth, love, and letting go. May the Lord strengthen and comfort every mother walking through these bittersweet moments, reminding us that even as seasons change, His faithfulness never does.
This season also brought deep sorrow as I mourned alongside a family member through a tragic loss. Those moments where the pain feels deafening, where questions are many and answers are few. Yet even there, in the darkest and saddest moments, the Lord remains near. Even when we are barely holding on, He sees us and does not forsake us.
This I do know: whether in seasons of joy or sorrow, celebration or grief, the Lord remains faithful and never leaves us. He is close to the brokenhearted, near to those carrying heavy burdens, and lovingly walks beside us through every season of life. Even in the moments we do not understand, His presence remains constant. And through it all, He simply desires our love, our trust, and our obedience.
Life can feel brutal at times, but we continue moving forward with the shield of faith, trusting God to strengthen, heal, and carry us through. There are moments when all we can whisper is, “Lord, I don’t understand… but I trust You.”
I love to garden, it brings me so much peace while at the same time it is a lot of work. It is a beautiful process. First, you prepare the soil. You break up the hard places, remove the weeds, and make room for new life. Then, you add nutrients. You give the soil what it needs to become healthy and fruitful. You then plant the seed. It may look small and insignificant at first, but hidden beneath the surface, growth is beginning. Next comes watering, consistent care, patience, sunlight, and then you wait. Eventually, what was planted begins to grow.
In the same way, God often works in us. He tills the hard places, removes what does not belong, nourishes us with His Word, plants purpose in us, and waters us through seasons of growth until fruit begins to show. It has caused me to meditate on the parable of the seed and the harvest in Mark 4:27–29. The process of planting, watering, waiting, and harvesting reflects the seasons of life and God’s perfect timing. The farmer trusts the unseen work happening beneath the soil long before any fruit appears.
And isn’t that how faith often works?
Continuing to pray when we are tired.
Continuing to believe when we do not understand.
Continuing to read God’s Word and share His goodness even when life feels heavy.
Faithfully watering and nurturing the seeds God has entrusted to us, even when we cannot yet see how everything will come together. Trusting that the God of the universe hears every prayer, sees every tear, knows every desire hidden in our hearts, and answers according to His perfect will and timing.
Sometimes growth is happening underground where no one can see it.
Sometimes God is working in ways we cannot yet understand.
And sometimes the waiting season is preparing us for a harvest far greater than we imagined.
Prayer: Lord, help me to wait on You well. Help me to trust You in every season of life, even when I cannot see what You are doing. Remind me that You are a good God who loves us and holds our future in Your hands.
Teach me to wait with faithful obedience, grace, prayer, fasting, meditating on your Word, and give me a heart that listens for Your still, quiet voice.
As You grow and shape me through this process of life, help me to remain faithful, trusting that in Your perfect timing we will see the fruit of all You have prepared for me. In Jesus name, Amen.
