View From The Bluff: Cherishing The Seasons

The leaves are beginning to fall and change color, signaling the season changing. It is also a visual reflection and reminder of a seasonal change in our life right now.

It's the endings and beginnings I've talked about before. A time to cherish the days gone by and with anticipation look forward to what the new season may offer.

Much activity has been going on at the Deakins' homestead. These past two weeks have been filled to the brim....and in them have been numerous moments I've wanted to capture to show you but they were simply too sacred.

To pull out a phone to take a snap shot would have ruined the moment and just be plain disrespectful.

The sacred moments were not captured by my phone's camera, but by the lens of my eye and the snapshot in my memory. Memories I will cherish forever. Words that I will hang onto for life!

Days have been filled with hard conversations with ones we love, and yet the hard conversation only revealed what we already knew about our Georgia family - they are a beautiful reflection of Christ Himself.

God gives us family wherever we go. Surrogate grandparents. Friends who have become lifelong sisters. Brothers who have our back. Mentors willing to run interference. Children you'd adopt into your family at a moment's notice. Even though none are blood related, the bonds run deep like blood.

Can I even begin to describe the snapshot moments I wanted to capture? Let me try...

Love expressed through locked eyes as we watched tears emerge from each other's eyes. No words are needed. It is felt deep within. Love expressed through the grip of a wrinkled hand who has been where I've been and understands. I wanted to take a picture so badly as she held my hand tightly and bowed her head to pray for me.

Love expressed through an extended embrace, unstoppable tears, the joy of laughter, and a bear hug that literally lifted me off my feet!

A pastor, who has walked many more ministry miles than we have, intentionally turned to look us in the face and speak wisdom into us, life giving words over us. He confirmed our calling in ministry. He built furniture for us and continues to build the Kingdom through his wisdom, words, and generosity.

They've invested in us, and we in them. They've loved us like family, the unconditional kind. The kind that believes in you and trusts your heart even when they don't have all the details. They don't need to because they know you.

These relationships are a gift from God and what brings comfort to me is that these gifts are lifelong. Lasting throughout time and distance. God placed a precious group of people in our path for a season, for His purposes, to journey with, to sharpen one another, and to grow with.

We've become family! And it isn't easy to leave one family for another but when God is the One prompting, there is much peace.

We've been in this place before. In fact, it seems like this is how God usually works in our lives. We've been in many seasons of change and transition without knowing what's to come, without a plan, without jobs....just a word from the Lord..."Go". Abraham is once again our mentor and example of living in faith. It was Abraham's story of leaving Haran that God opened my heart towards missions. It was Abraham's willingness to give up his son that convicted me of an idol in my life. And now it is Abraham once again being told to "Go" but not specifically where that God has prepared us to venture on to unknown territories.

God simply said, "I will show you."

The changing of seasons can be beautiful as displayed in the trees all around me, the anticipation of cool evenings, warm drinks, and the holidays approaching. The new season brings excitement yet provides a meaningful time to pause and cherish the days gone by and the approaching end of a season.

Something extraordinary happens when you are smack-dab in the middle of two seasons, when you gain the awareness that the season you are in is now temporary....you live differently. You see it differently, holding on to life as if fragile...

Not wanting to miss an opportunity to be with those God has placed in your life for that particular season...

You gain a heavenly perspective when uprooted from this earthly life. A perspective I should have everyday!

I'm writing this on October 21, 2015, the date that Michael J Fox flew in his DeLorean to the future in "Back to the Future 2". Well, I don't have a flying car nor a real hoverboard like in the movie, and I don't see Doc and Marty McFly around the Alpharetta clock tower.

It just goes to show you that while we all would like to know what the future looks like, it is still a mystery....unwritten and unknown. And while the future is unknown to me, it's not for Him. He knows. He's got it. He is trustworthy. He created the seasons for His purpose and our good, and we "GO" knowing that we have family here and there whom we love deeply.

God has lead us through this before...