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Finally the seasons have changed full swing from summer to fall (and weather wise it's been a little quicker than most around here would have liked :)!) but like it or not, seasons change.  This year I was absolutely begging them to, but I think it was more in the sense of the season my life has been in.  I have been somewhat stuck in a season that has just worn on me and instead of letting up, it just seems to grind a little harder.  Without rehashing the details, let's just say I am more than ready for my NEW season.  I catch myself thinking, "anytime GOD, I am here, I am ready....bring on the new season...", as if hitting a new stride was just that simple of a request.  I guess in some ways, it is and I do believe that God can change things with the snap of a finger but this time, I am thinking(shoot, and deep down I know) that there is something to be gained from the journey and that seems to be where I am at.

Thankfully, all gray clouds, as they say, really do have a silver lining and I have had many.  Friends to encourage and support me, lots of God moments along the way, an amazing family to love on me and of coarse this little face...

he can drive me crazy but nothing gives me more joy!  

On Thursday we were getting absolutely STIR crazy because we had been couped up and snuggled in from the cold.  I finally decided that the cold, wind and rain were not going to keep us in a moment longer when Griffin and I got done playing with an empty paper towel tube for the 3rd time that morning....dude, we have to get out:)!  So we bundled up and went to the park, which of coarse was freezing, wet and a fine drizzle started just as we pulled in.  I debated turning around but remembered the paper towel tube and put the car in park.  I figured we'd stay a few minuets and then he'd be ready to leave.

I have to say that besides the cold, G and I had the best time at the park....sliding down wet slides, pants soaked, shoes muddy, just the two of us running around the playground like old friends.  It wasn't cold, or wet, or windy...it was just fun.  I was sitting at the top of this giant green slide and looking down at my son in soggy clothes yelling for me to come down and meet him and it hit me why God asks us to have faith like a child.  None of these rainy details once made a difference to G.  The kid could have played all all afternoon and never even paused to notice the outside conditions.  The focus was never once on what wasn't going right, it was just happy to be alive, outside, living in the moment, enjoying the day....all the cliche things that we as adults have to print on cute signs and hang in our office to remind us to CARPE DEIM!  I have a living, breathing, beautiful seize the day sign all of my own who daily reminds me (if I look) that I GET today...to be alive and happy and find the time to play outside even when it's freezing.  

Thank you God for knowing that I need not just a poster or adorable sign with an encouraging quote....but a small little curly haired boy is just the thing to remind me that there's hope and joy even in the seasons of life that we are more than happy to leave behind and that each season does have a sweet spot.  God in his great & infinite knowledge knows just the sweet spot that would spur us on to the rest of the great plans he has for our lives.  Going forward, I am going to try and savor even the smallest of things...like a good ole fashion "JUMP JUMP" on the bed!

"A glad heart is good medicine"

Proverbs 17:22