sweet season.

“Restore our fortunes, LORD , as streams renew the desert.”
Psalm 126:4

I was talking to my friend Nikki tonight and she pointed me to Matt Chandler's wife's blog. I love love Matt Chandler, and follow him pretty consistently, but had never looked at his wife's writings!

I was talking about enjoying the season that I am currently in, and I honestly could not put into words, so perfectly as Lauren Chandler did, how I am feeling tonight. Here is what she wrote...

Would the summer be so sweet if the winter weren't so bitter?

And, would the bitter winter be so bearable if the summer's promise weren't so sweet?

The Lord, in His providence and sustaining grace, is kind to mingle the two. In the cold of winter, we carry the warmth of the Son through Whom the promise is made to be with us "always, to the end of the age." And in the season of colorful communion, we carry the heavy reality that green will give way to gray, proving that we are not home yet.

For now, I will live in the season I feel swirling about me. I will drink it in, savor it as a foretaste of heaven: a blazing Son, a forever respite from a worn-out world and constant company, face-to-face with my Savior and the saints around the throne.

There are tears flowing from my eyes as I type this, because I am just so, so thankful.
Thankful to be in this sweet season. I wanted to update my blog tonight, but all I could think to write was, "I love this." Ha. I know...so eloquent.
I am learning to fully enjoy this season God has brought me in - to grow and change and enjoy.
And if I am to be terribly honest tonight, there has been many a season in my life, where that has been a challenge for me to do.
By no means am I saying that I have been only in the winter seasons, but after some seasons of heartache in the past years, I often times caught myself bracing for the next big thing - the next loss, the next hurdle, etc.
But oh what freedom that has been awaiting me!

Yes, I believe it's true - the times of darkness make the bright times all the more brighter!
I've tasted and I've seen...and He is Good.
(Psalm 34:8)