"Seasons"

For me, some of life's seasons change like our natural seasons...meaning gradual small things begin to happen. Examples like the temperature drops just a bit, the shade of the leaves begin to turn on the edges, the sun is down just a little bit earlier.

Then it happens, we wake up one day and there is frost on the ground, the furnace in our home kicks on and we are into a new season. It did not happen over night, and there really was not one big event that brought it all to come into play...but a change of season happened.

This is the place I find myself at this time. In a new "season."
When did it change and what did it change from? Can not really put my finger on it, but I do know who put it all the small changes together to accomplish this change. "GOD"

Anyone who has been in our home, seen my email address or read anything I have had the chance to write, has seen the phrase "SIMPLIFY"
My season has been one of God gracefully setting me FREE based on His wonderful word in Ephesians 2:10 "For you Carrie are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that you Carrie should walk in them"

In this season God called me to simplify my life so that I could HEAR his voice...Homemaking, baking, freezer dinners, homeschooling, taking care of our 4 acres, co-ops, and mentoring women were all things God had for me to invest my time.

I loved and enjoyed all the details of creating a HAVEN in our home, for creating simplicity for my heart and others to live in.
Little did I know that the leaves in my life were starting to change color about this time last year.
We saw God move in many many ways as we put our 1928 home on the market in a down economy, only to have it sell in 20 days, and got to buy a home in town that has to many wonderful things about it to list. Hummmmm, CHANGE was upon us.

Dave and I both knew that having a newer home would set free some of our time we had been spending on our old home with land to up keep. Little did we know how MUCH time.
It will be one year in Novemeber that we have lived in our new home with our new time arrangement. Kid time, family time, office/ministry time and friend time has all opened up.

The realization of the "frost" showing up one morning, and the change being upon me was the realization that baking, homemaking, freezer dinner making, home-schooling etc had all become like a faint call in my heart.
Changes had been happening and were subtle.

Where did it go? Why did I not miss it? Where was the pull and the urge to do all these things?
Now, don't get me wrong, my family is not being fed fish sticks and tater tots in a crazy messy house (okay some days it is just like that) but for the most part the desire and pull to do all of those "HAVEN" things has faded....and guess what, it is OKAY and I am OKAY and the family is OKAY. I am a planner at heart, but God is moving me into a "fly by the seat of my pants" place that quite frankly is FREEing.

I have spent about one year of no dinners in the freezer (family still eating),
Kids in public school (yep...all still loving the Lord and growing, shining the light inside them),
buying Walmart $.79 a loaf bread, (baking bread only a few times), letting the house GO, (knowing that there is always a tomorrow and the chores will still be there) putting the chore charts aways (letting the kids pick what they can and want to do and stuff still getting done) working in our home office 20-30 hours a week for the cause of the orphan (took a computer certificated class to keep office time most effective...yet still keep a window open at all times to my Face Book account...the biggest time sucker of all :O)

Whew...BOY does my life LOOK different!
YEAH GOD for change I did not even see coming.
I could not of organized or planned these changes or even picked these changes...but BOY am I glad He is in control and directing and re-directing.

I guess this weeks post is a glance of what was, what is and a some what question of what is to come.
What I do know for sure is this:
We are all God's workmanship and the things He created for us to do even before we were born are being worked out, day by day, small change by small change, creating NEW and WONDERFUL and sometimes difficult seasons for us to walk in!

Happy WALKING!
Enjoy the Season you are in and know that He is in the loving business of transformation and change!