Seasons of A Mom's Life Recap 2

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Were the findings in our discussion an eye opener for you? Many moms were surprised and enlightened as we sat and discussed our different seasons of our life....

Now to continue with our recap on Seasons of A Mom's Life.....

There may be many changes that are taking place at the same time - changes in our seasons of life, changes in the make up of our family (new addition to the family, kids growing up, more independent, looking after parents etc), advancement in IT, changes in society impacting our values and our relationships.

HOWEVER, there is ONE thing that remains CONSTANT, UNCHANGING always. And this ONE thing is GOD.

JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER (Hebrew 13:8). And because GOD is UNCHANGING, we can go back to GOD'S word for guidance, for direction in this fast paced world.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 says

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 me to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones togetger;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

What gain has the worker from his toil?

I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

And He has put eternity into man's heart,

yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and do good as long as they live;

also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all is toil - this is God's gift to man.

I perceived that whatever God does endures forever;

nothing can be added to it, nor taken away from it.

God has done it, so that people fear before Him.

That which is, already has been;

that which is to be, already has been;

and God seeks what has been driven away.

We learnt from Ecclesiastes 3 : 1-15 that there are different seasons, different stages in our journey of life. We learnt too that there is a beginning and an ending to a season. Our motherhood is not just one long journey of sleepless nights or diaper changing. Even all that will pass and we will go into another season. And in all the different events and seasons, there is renewal, there is contrast, there is balance. Life is not one long time frame of the same thing over and over again. It is not a dead end. Something for us to take heart.

During the session, we learnt that we are like a tree. Our different seasons of life can be liken to the growth of a tree - with each ring of a cross-section of a tree representing each season of our life. As we go through each season, we mature, just like the tree does (the rings of the cross-section of a tree trunk tell us the age of a tree). And as we mature, our 'trunk' grows thicker and stronger to withstand the changes and challenges each season brings and society wrought on us.

And as we move on in different seasons of life, we too learn how to balance and not topple over in strong winds or times of uncertainty.

So how do we have grow a strong tree? How can we be a strong tree?

Psalms 1:1-6 says :

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on His law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water

that yields its fruits in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,

but are like the chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the LORD knows the way of righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

We need to be a tree with a strong root system drawing its nutrients from God's word. God's word gives direction, guidance and assurance. There are many things in life that can gnaw away at our roots - changes in society and its impact on values and relationships, uncertainty and fear, a feeling of lostness or desperation, busyness etc.... all these can shrivel up our root system. A good root system, tapping on the right nutrients helps weed out negative influences from society and keep us from rotting away unconsciously.

And as the tree grows, it also needs pruning. The dead branches and leaves (wrong values and influences) need to be pruned away to make way for new growth. Pruning brings about balance to an otherwise 'unruly' tree.

With all these in place, tree with a good deep root system will then be able to withstand the storms, be fruitful and be life giving as it goes from season to season.

Now that you have had a brief overview of the different seasons in a mom's life, perhaps it is good that we reflect further and seek the Lord to show us if there are any areas of our current season in life that we need to address - be it putting God first, or re-prioritizing our order of our focus.

Have we just made do with a lot of arrow prayers with God during the diaper years that we don't know how to spend some quiet time alone with God even though we now have time in our hands?

Or have we been overly focused on our children and have neglected to pursue our first love - our darling husband? Have we been focusing so long and so much on our children that we have forgotten that our husband 'exits' or it has been that long that we do not know how to talk with him anymore? (Did you pick this up from previous posting - more time for self but husband is still neglected?)

Or do we need to pay more attention to our health - like exercising to keep fit so that we have less ailments when older? Or pursuing an interest or hobby to fill our time wisely when kids leave the nest?

Can we or do we want to take time to learn from the older moms who have walked the path of their seasons of life before us? Older moms have a great wealth of knowledge, experience and also wisdom. Pray that God will bring into our lives a godly older mom who can help us in our journey as wife and mom. (Titus 2:3-5)

And consider Proverbs 31: 21 & 25 when we think about preparing for the seasons ahead.

Prov 31:21 ~ "When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet."

Prov 31: 25 ~ "She is clothed in strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."

Do take some time to meditate on Psalm 1 (and the above verses), and see what it means to be like this tree planted by the waters and how we can be a tree planted by streams of water.

:)