My God is the God of seasons

Our God is a God of seasons. He created time and seasons for a reason.  What happens when you wear shorts and a tank top in the winter? You freeze.  What happens when you try to plant in the fall? Your plants die.  Unless you plant bulbs... but they have to sit there underground all winter, right?  (I am not much of a green thumb type person.)

And so I find myself trying to figure out just exactly what is going on in my life, where I am at and what my next steps are.

What I thought was spring, was just an indian summer.  You see, harvest has come.  I have been reaped. Its a violent thing, the harvest. Believe me my blessings are plenty, and I have much to be thankful for.  I believe God is the Great Farmer and we are called to be farmers, so as a farmer I need to do what is prudent at this time.

Look what I found on Wikipedia under the heading Agriculture:

Cropping systems vary among farms depending on the available resources and constraints; geography and climate of the farm; government policy; economic, social and political pressures; and the philosophy and culture of the farmer.^[34][35] Shifting cultivation (or slash and burn) is a system in which forests are burnt, releasing nutrients to support cultivation of annual and then perennial crops for a period of several years. Then the plot is left fallow to regrow forest, and the farmer moves to a new plot, returning after many more years (10-20). This fallow period is shortened if population density grows, requiring the input of nutrients (fertilizer or manure) and some manual pest control. Annual cultivation is the next phase of intensity in which there is no fallow period. This requires even greater nutrient and pest control inputs.

So, it looks like exactly what I thought.  My soil needs a season to lay fallow and/or requires the input of nutrients and pest control.  Looks like I need to rest, nourish, and set some boundaries.  And as full as my plate has been recently, it looks like I need a lot of that.

And I need your help.  Love me, feed me, and don't let me hide in a damn cave.  Winter seems like a great time to cuddle up with some good friends and tell a story by the fire, doesn't it.  I am not gonna work so darn hard to prove anything, I know I am loved, and no matter how much I am hurting, God is still God, and he is still in control.  And nothing can separate me from his love.

From Wikipedia under Shifting Cultivation:

Fallow fields are not unproductive. During the fallow period, shifting cultivators use the successive vegetation species widely for timber for fencing and construction, firewood, thatching, ropes, clothing, tools, carrying devices and medicines. It is common for fruit and nut trees in fallows to be planted in fallow fields to the extent that parts of some fallows are in fact orchards. Soil-enhancing shrub or tree species may be planted or protected from slashing or burning in fallows. Many of these species have been shown to fix nitrogen. Fallows commonly contain plants that attract birds and animals and are important for hunting. But perhaps most importantly, tree fallows protect soil against physical erosion and draw nutrients to the surface from deep in the soil profile.

So I know its not doing nothing...  Perhaps in the spring, I might plant something different, who knows?  I just know that the crop I have been planting is done...  for this season.  Time to take a break, and enjoy winter.  Actually enjoy something I have hated for years.  Yes, I have hated winter.  This year I choose to embrace it.

 Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

 ¹ There is a time for everything,
       and a season for every activity under heaven:
 ² a time to be born and a time to die,
       a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
       a time to tear down and a time to build,
 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
       a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
       a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
       a time for war and a time for peace.

"Desert Song" by Hillsong

This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides

This is my prayer in the fire
And weakness or trial or pain
There is faith proved of more worth than gold
So refine me lord through the flames

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and he is here

This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on its way
I am a conquerer and co-heir with Christ
So firm on his promise I'll stand

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and he is here

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have reason to worship

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and he is here

And this is my prayer in the harvest
And favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I receive I will sow