I’m not one to start the next season before it actually begins. I’ve tried to live in the moment and enjoy the season I’m in. While Fall is my favorite season of the year, it will come like it always does the third week of September. I refuse to order a Pumpkin Spice Latte before Fall actually arrives.
It seems like once July 4th comes and goes I start to see posts and tweets longing for sweatshirt weather and football. The first day of school definitely ends the summer social season. But I am holding on to this season because of the many wonderful things (and not so wonderful) that happened over this summer.
For a long time now, God has been calling me to disciple other women. I’ve led a ladies Bible study for years and while I love these ladies with all of my heart there hasn’t been anyone that I’ve created a one-on-one relationship with outside of our weekly meetings. I had been praying that He would send me someone local that I could pour into and who would pour into me. He did just that in June and every Tuesday night we meet at Starbucks and talk about life, struggles we are going through and what our hopes for the future are. It has taken me out of my comfort zone but it has encouraged me to reach out to other women as well. For this introvert, it can be difficult to take the first step. It’s even more difficult to open up and really trust someone with your heart.
The summer has had its challenges. He has taught me through a relationship at work that isn’t going as I’d like, how to communicate, to be bold and have hard conversations even if the relationship can’t be restored. I read a post by Dr. Tony Evans this week that when a broken relationship cannot be healed, we need to seek healing from that broken relationship because it could harm future relationships. It breaks my heart when relationships cannot be restored but God can renew our hearts and move us to a place of healing.
He has renewed my heart and awakened in me a joy and expectancy that I wasn’t sure would return. He has been faithful and has even sent us three families that have become near and dear to our hearts. He has given us new ministry opportunities and ways to serve that I didn’t even dream of.
I am thankful for the opportunities He has provided and the struggles that I have had to navigate. I am thankful for a renewed joy and expectancy He has given me. I am soaking up these last couple of weeks of summer and I will NOT order a Pumpkin Spice Latte until after September 22nd.