seasons of life | A Heart for Alaska

Been awhile since I last posted. It would seem that my “good intention” for this blog have been blogged down with the thing we call life.

Life happens!

You can make all the plans you want, and be a person who has discipline but no matter how you try, LIFE will happen. Something or someone will throw a wrench into the best laid plans.

And as “Life Happens” time does not stop and wait for you to take a breath and say, “OK, Lets go” it marches on whether we want it to or not.

2012 will be a year that time for me stopped. I could not move forward, I lived in the now and day by day. My son was DEPLOYED. Into a war zone, the sand box. I survived that time and felt the knot I carried go out of my gut when I saw him walk in that gym, in October, 2012.

But of course Time did march on. Those months just marched right on by.

After he got home it was a whirlwind of activity, he was getting married. (You can see my blog on the marriage)

And time marches on……

It seemed to accelerate Before I knew it my son was married and the very day after took on responsiblity of twin baby girls, born the day after their wedding.

Senior Year

August, 2012!

Change is in the air.

The days are getting shorter with less sunlight down to 12 hours of daylight here in Alaska. The state fair is being set up. The morning are seeing more frost and school has started.
Soon the leaves will start to show colors beyond their green and the mountains will be overflowing with their bounty of berries.

The changes of nature.

The unstoppable change of the seasons.

Winter to Spring: with new life.

Spring to Summer: carefree and fun.

Summer to Fall: harvest all we have reaped.

Fall to Winter: to reflect and enjoy all that has come.

One could almost compare life to these season, many have.

For this woman it follows:

Spring: time to have new life; my children. To give birth is the most rewarding thing. The ultimate fulfilling of what it means to be a woman. Caring and loving this new life. Sharing in all of the growing. Guiding them into childhood, on their way to adulthood.
A time to feel life, to see it unfold. To realize how precious it is and how fragile. To have our eyes and feeling open and expanded in ways we never thought possible.

Summer: children now realize they are separate. That they can exist apart from their mom and dads. You watch as they form their perspectives, their opinions. Not always right, but shows they are a thinking individual. With help and loving guidance, children learn that decisions have consequences. These are the first steps to adulthood. Watching the seeds mature into full grown plants.

Fall: the most rewarding, yet the most painful. Now is the time for letting go. The children have grown. Some will marry, some continue school, other will serve in the military. Whatever they do, it will be their decision, and mom and dad have to step back. Let the child move forward. Mom and dad need to trust in what they have taught. They have to allow the child to fly, even if the child falls. Mom and dad can not hover as they once did. Waiting to catch a wrong decision. The consequences of decisions must fall on the young adult. Only this way can they learn true responsibility. To learn to think before acting. To weigh the results of ones actions to see if the price is worthy to be paid.

Yes! Fall is, for all, the most important season!
It is the season of Harvest. To reap what we have sown. To prepare for what come next.

Winter: sometimes dark, cold and lonely. But can be full of light, warmth and family. The time to see all of what the other three seasons have wrought. Reflection time. Not of regret, but of all that has been done. Not if you got it right but if it was full of love and forgiveness. Parents are not perfect, that’s why there are grandchildren in the winter. To keep mom and dad from stewing in regret, of things lost, things that are past, that had to change. In the winter, grandchildren are the warmth of hearts that feel to much pain, abandonment. The fire that melts the feeling of being unwanted, unneeded. The spark that flames the mind to action, to focus on today instead of yesterday.

No one can stop the seasons from changes. Just as no one can stop the passage of time. But one can accept them and make the most of all the seasons.
Enjoy, each and everyone of them.
Look forward to the challenges of each one. And rejoice in the rewards.
Don’t be stuck in one season fore then you’ll miss all that is in the next. Boldly move through each, savor what each season brings. Forgive your mistakes, learn from them, don’t let them become walls that keep you from moving forward.

Take pride in all you have achieved. Don’t let failures weigh you down. Failures show us: We tried! We really tried. One cannot achieve without first failing. Never measure your failures cause even though they may be many. Your success are all the more sweeter because of them.
So in the Winter stay warm on what you have achieved, love all that you have made so that light will always shine in your heart.

Dedicated to my mom; May her winter be full of love and joy.