Change of Seasons

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. Partially because I was born in the fall, but mostly because of the beauty that comes with the season. When hues of red, orange, and yellow fill the woods surrounding our pasture, the blue sky is dotted with cottonball clouds, and the cows are out grazing on the still-green grass, I can't help but have my breath taken away.  Add in the incredible smells of corn silage being chopped and the last crop of alfalfa hay being made, and it is any farm kid's paradise.

However, with summer fading into fall, which all too quickly becomes winter, there is another piece involved. Change. I will be the first to tell you that change does not come easily to me, but I have learned to deal with it over the years.

One of the largest changes I noticed this fall was at the National FFA Convention. I didn't bring along my blue corduroy jacket. As a former state officer who has competed in many events at the national level, it was... different. After the first night of seeing the blue jackets swarm Indianapolis, however, I came to a realization. The same excitement that I have for FFA and Agricultural Education was in every one of those FFA members present, and I know over 540,000 FFA members across the nation are enthused in the same way. For me, I still have the fire and passion for FFA and Agricultural Education. It is just now being utilized in a different way: helping me prepare to teach.

The changing of the seasons brought with it a lesson for me. It is not my timing that matters. I do not have the control to change summer to fall, nor do I know where I will live and who I will marry. A special timing is involved, however.

"There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot, 

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and time to gather them, 

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace."

~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I may not know what tomorrow will bring, what challenges and opportunities may lie ahead, and what change I will have to face. God's word tells me that He has a timing for everything. (I honestly mean EVERYTHING - did you read that passage?!?) From day to day I still may worry about timing, but it is His will that will control the timing of my life.

As I look at the changing colors, I have an opportunity to see the changes in my life and know that God's timing is behind them. I know that He has a timing for me, just as He times the changing of the seasons.

Just a few thoughts from a farmer's daughter.

Erin