Dead Things

Isn’t it funny how time flies?

I came across this lovely fall-themed message once again this morning and it took me back in time…

At the time I saw this the first time it was the fall of 2017 and I was struggling deeply with whether to continue in a regional position with a homeschool company. I was worried about the team members. I was worried about the direction of the company. I was exhausted and struggling with physical issues as a result of stress.

My husband was encouraging me to quit. My kids were encouraging me to quit. My hair was greying. My blood pressure was high. My heart rate was erratic. My sleep was disturbed. My waistline was thickening.

I was stubbornly holding on to a dead dream.

But I loved the people. I loved the model. I loved the comfort of knowing the direction we were headed. I loved the dream that I had committed to pursuing, and dreams die slowly and hard.

Deep in my heart I knew I was clinging to a dead thing, but I wanted so passionately to believe it would be different that I was able to convince myself that *I* was the issue, that I just wasn’t controlling my emotions well enough, that I wasn’t smart enough to understand the different aspects of the situation.

Then, one day, in the thick of all the turmoil, I was browsing social media and this photo crossed my path. It literally stopped me in my tracks.

“The trees are about to show how lovely it is to let the dead things go.”

You see, I had forgotten the beauty of the seasons. I had ignored that nature has a time for all things. Those things are the happy and joyful, those things are also the wretched and grieving.

There’s a drive near my house that I love to take every fall. Aspen trees line the road and when they change their colors… oh my heavens, the beauty of it takes your breath away.

With the light filtering through the trees it feels like an ethereal arena. There’s just enough crispness in the air to help you really know that it’s fall – when you fill your lungs it’s like an electrical charge goes through you from your head to your toes.

Yes, the trees are only like this for awhile. The next cold snap inevitably comes and the leaves fall. Then the leaves begin to decay… but that decay becomes the nutrients for the following year’s growth!

That’s the key that I had forgotten, the message I needed to remember today when I saw this photo once more. The dead things? The decay? They’re needed to create the growth and beauty of the future. It’s all part of the process.

That teenager who is arguing with every thing that comes out of your mouth? That’s the irritation needed for them to be prepared to leave and cleave in the future.

The organizational disquiet? It may be the discomfort needed for you to create options for others to have hope as well.

When I’m in the midst of turmoil it’s hard for me to step back and see the beauty in the unrest. But I’m finally getting old enough that I can see the strings of Faithful Purpose in the events of my life.

Isn’t God awesome that way? To show his faithfulness in the midst of trial?

How has He shown you His plan?