This morning, while everyone else was still sleeping in our house, my son Oliver and I sat in the living room doing nothing but staring at our Christmas tree and talking quietly. We both agreed that seeing the tree with all of its ornaments made us happy.
When I asked why the tree made him happy, Oliver said he liked watching the lights while it was still dark in the room, before his brother woke up. He then asked why it made me happy. I said that it made me happy to know that each ornament on our tree represents a season in my life, and I love seeing all of them on display in one place. Oliver asked what that meant, so I went on to explain.
The season of my childhood is represented amongst those branches as a Peanuts porcelain bell from my very first Christmas in 1977. My kids know that the bell is special to me, and it always gets placed near the very top. It has made it through 47 Christmases and is handled with extreme care from the time it comes out of its special wrap to the time it is put away.
In my early twenties, my grandmother Ruth crocheted delicate snowflakes that she starched with sugar water and gave to all of her grandchildren in 1997. Those snowflakes have hung on our tree every year since and are on there today, more than a year after we said goodbye to my sweet grandmother.
There was a season when our family lived in Hawaii, and we have ornaments from those years too. One of my favorites is a full-shell macadamia nut that my son Lucas turned into a googly-eyed fish when he was in second grade. (It made sense in Hawaii!) He was so proud of that fish! We also have some aloha Santa ornaments, because when you live in Hawaii, Santa wears flip-flops and sunglasses, hangs ten, and goes fishing. Those ornaments were bittersweet to hang for a few years since they also represent a season of loss when our family split up.
The season I spent as a single mom is represented by an upside-down light bulb that my daughter Reese turned into a Rudolph ornament when she was in third grade. We had just moved back to Missouri, and she was excited to place something that she made on our tiny tree, which was pretty bare that year. One eye fell off, but it’s somehow even cuter that way so we never replaced that eye.
The current season of my life is the most prominent one on our tree now. Ornaments from when my husband Aden and I first got married, ornaments purchased on trips with our older kids throughout the years, and ornaments that Oliver and Jesse have made in recent years in school all hang in the mix with the others previously mentioned.
Yes, our tree is a mishmash of ornaments. There is no cohesive theme at all. But somehow it’s beautiful. I feel like our lives reflect the same messy beauty that our tree does.
God allows us to go through seasons for a reason. We are not in our permanent spot, our final home, until we are with Him. Of course, God accepts us where we are but loves us too much to leave us there. He asks us to learn and grow and change as we go through each season.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
Recently, my life has changed yet again. Yes, I’m still married. No, I haven’t moved back to Hawaii. And yes, I am still raising kids. But God was recently calling me into something new. Something that required me to learn and grow and say yes to Him.
I am honored to be part of a new ministry at our church for single moms. We gather each week to build community, to share life, and to grow and learn from the Word and from each other. It’s an honor to be part of this season of life with so many amazing women and their kids. And it’s a bigger honor to watch them grow and learn, even during a hard season.
What season are you currently in? Whatever season you are facing now, you will never regret learning and growing closer to God while you are in it. Don’t give up. All of the change that seasons bring help prepare you for the next season. And it’s beautiful.
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