Beauty in Every Season
Despite how cheesy or cliche this sounds, the Lord has been unrelenting in the way He reminds of this truth, especially in the past couple weeks.
I’ll say it:
This season in the Dominican Republic has been the hardest season on my Race.
As I admit this, in no way am I complaining or wishing it wasn’t hard.
It’s actually the other way around: I relish in the challenge of this season. I would much rather be growing, challenged, and walking with the Lord in a hard season than being stagnant in an easy one.
Even though I invite this hard season, it doesn’t make it any easier. It’s been exhausting spiritually and mentally, painful, and scary at times. It’s been hard to hold on to hope, to choose joy, and honestly, to refuse to resign myself to complacency.
The Lord has been challenging me to look for the beauty in this season. For me, that has looked like being aware and in awe of the simple joys He places right in front of me each day. Whether that’s a squad mate offering to finish my laundry for me so I can rest, a beautiful scenic mountain bus ride to ministry, a good cup of coffee, playing card games with squad mates after dinner and laughing nonstop, or some impromptu worship on the basketball court.
For more on this, see my past blog: “The Simple Things”!
I felt like the Lord wanted me to challenge a few squad mates to acknowledge the beauty in this season. What they shared is beautiful and I wanted to share it with you too.
Where have you found beauty in this season?
Andi
“I’ve found beauty in the bus rides to ministry where we sing at the top of our lungs. I’ve found beauty in the house visits where we get to sit and listen to years of stories. I’ve found beauty in the team dinners where we can’t breathe because we’re laughing so hard.
I’ve found beauty in learning what it looks like to fight for myself as a daughter, even if it means failing sometimes. I’ve found beauty in that failure, because in it he meets me with grace and love. I’ve found beauty in letting go of striving and just letting him love me.”
Ben
“I’ve found beauty in the fact that I can have joy and grieve at the same time. James 1:2-4 talks about counting everything as joy, including suffering and trials. My month 8 was pretty hard, and I often feel heavy when I think about the fact that I’m leaving the mission field and this family that we’ve made here. How can I count that as joy? What’s joyful about the trials I’ve faced and the heaviness I feel? The truth I’m learning is that I can’t ignore my grief, and counting things as joy doesn’t mean I always feel “happy”. But from a different perspective, the trials I faced last month refined me and brought me closer to the Lord. I’ve never understood how much He loves me more than I do right now, and if I hadn’t gone through the hard things, I wouldn’t have had the same growth. The fact that we’re leaving at the end of the month is something I’m grieving, but looking back, what an incredible blessing this entire 9 months has been. What a gift it is that we still have some time together! And we get to take everything we’ve experienced back to our homes and our families and communities and build others up in Christ. That is what’s beautiful right now, and beautiful isn’t necessarily clean or happy or easy, but it has definitely been worth it.”
Chloe
“I have found beauty in the trials and beauty in the stillness of this season.
In the season I am walking in, I am finding beauty in the Lord’s constant peace. Trials and sufferings that could have led to fear and anger instead led me into learning new ways of trusting the Lord. He brought me instant peace in the trials, in the fire I was walking in. Instead of confusion and doubt, I received hope and freedom from the Lord.
Romans 5:1-2, ‘Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.'”
And now, I ask you the same question:
Where have you found beauty in this season?
If you haven’t found it, look for it. I promise it’s there.
All my love,
Emma
I see so much beauty in this last season as I notice and celebrate the grace and growth that has unfolded in your life
I fully agree with Mom!
Today I found beauty in worshipping with no one around, just the Father and I. Right now I find beauty in outside sounds of the birds, the wind and the clear cool evening.
Amen to that! These updates have been a tremendous blessing and source of light and beauty!