One reason I’m glad I live in Kansas is because I get to feel the changing of the seasons. Just when the summer heat is getting totally unbearable, the air cools and the leaves change and the brisk days of fall make their entrance. Then comes the frigidness of winter — time for sweaters, hot chocolate, and Christmas. The months of cold drag on, until suddenly a warm day peeks through – a teaser for spring, that gives us a glimmer of hope while we bear the unpredictable blustery cold wet days of the next month or so, until finally the trees start to bud and the air turns consistently warm. Suddenly everything is green again and you get that unexpected sunburn when the rays of sun intensify without you realizing it.

Sometimes I don’t enjoy feeling the change of the seasons when it comes to life. 

Just like the Kansas weather, life is a series of seasons that come and go. Our lives intertwine with certain people for a period of time. And then things change – jobs shift, moves happen, kids grow up, people pass away, different stages of life take us in different directions. The change of seasons is unavoidable. 

As this school year comes to an end, I feel a pang of sadness at saying goodbye to this season. I have bonded with the seniors I have taught as we plowed our way through authors like  Augustine, Dante, and Luther, and dug deep into the words of the Bible. This past year has been an extremely challenging season, but also a very rewarding one. I am finding it hard to let go.

There is always a feeling of sadness when a good season comes to an end. It’s also easy to feel nostalgia for past seasons in our lives, to look back and feel a yearning for days gone by. It’s natural to mourn periods in our lives that are gone, that have been special and hold beautiful memories. The passing of time can bring pain and longing.

But this ache that our hearts feel when seasons move and change is actually a good thing. Because my hurting heart points me to the day when I will move from this earth to my eternal home.

In heaven, there will be no changing, no leaving behind, no looking back with longing. All will be perfect. All the time. Forever. It will be a season that will never end.

Isaiah 65:17 says, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.”

It’s hard to imagine, but in heaven we will experience something so much better than “the good ol’ days” that we’ve experienced here on this earth. And somehow those “good ol’ days” won’t even seem important. We will be too busy basking in the presence of God.

Until then, I will keep in mind one of Lexi’s favorite quotes: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” I will do my best to be thankful for each season I have been blessed to experience, while eagerly awaiting the best season of all.