A Season of Transitioning

listen several years ago when Denise and I were looking at the opportunity of moving here to serve the church here we had never lived in Colorado before we had vacationed here but never lived here so we had experienced maybe a week of winter maybe a week of fall but never all the seasons so I did my research trying to find out what is it like to live in Colorado what's it like to live in the Denver area and I ran across an article and I pulled it up this past week to see if it's really true now that now that we've been here for two years let me read it to you it says "One of the best things about living in Colorado is experiencing all four seasons sometimes in the same week living here is like dating someone with multiple personalities beautiful unpredictable and a little dramatic at times you wake up to sunshine birds chirping and the promise of a perfect day so you throw on a t-shirt rookie mistake by lunchtime the sky turns black the wind is hurling patio furniture down the street and it's snowing sideways by 3 p.m the sun's back out and you're sweating through your hoodie and by dinner there's a tornado warning and a double rainbow around here the forecast isn't a plan it's simply a polite suggestion colorado meteorologists are the only professionals who can be wrong 90% of the time and still get applause at the end of the day and tomorrow's outlook partly sunny with a 100% chance of don't get your hopes up so do you think that was a good description of the seasons here in Colorado absolutely yeah but you know it's interesting as I read that and talked and just and and looked and I've experienced just kind of the variableness of seasons how they come and go and you think they're gone they come back and they surprise you here's what I realized that actually is a great metaphor of our life isn't it that we all no matter where you live geographically we all go through seasons in life and sometimes we think those seasons are steady and all of a sudden something changes and it's like the weatherman was completely wrong and your life is turned upside down not by the outdoor elements but by the elements in your own very life life is full of seasons probably if we went around the room today and we talked about the different seasons of life that everyone's in someone would say "I'm in a great season of life." And the person next to you could be saying "I'm in a horrible season of life." And there's a possibility that two those two could be married as well as you say those two things there are seasons of transitions there are seasons of stability there is seasons of dancing there are seasons of not dancing there are seasons of getting ready for weddings and there are seasons of the weddings done so there's all kinds of seasons that we have in life and we're beginning a series called seasons we're going to do it over the next four weeks and probably the most infamous passage when we think about seasons of ministry seasons of life seasons of everything around us is found in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 if you have your handout the the scriptures in there we'll have it up here on the screens but let me read this this this passage to you

can you hear me there we go we're back again so let's read this together it says this for everything there is a season a time for every activity

under there's a check check there's a season for the microphones to work and there's a season for the microphones not to work a time to be born and a time to die a time to plant and a time to harvest a time to kill and a time to heal a time to tear down and a time to build up a time to cry and a time to laugh a time to grieve and a time to dance there's a time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones a time to embrace and a time to turn away a time to search and a time to quit searching a time to keep quiet and a time to throw away a time to tear and a time to mend a time to be quiet and a time to speak a time to love and a time to hate a time for war and a time for peace there is a season for all things now as I said as we went around the room we could go around the room today and talk about the different seasons each of us in there's going to be a myriad of different seasons but regardless of the season that you find yourself in I think there are three simple truths that we can pull from this passage and I want to share those three simple truths with you real quick and the first one says this the changing of seasons is inevitable it's going to happen whether you want it to happen or not it is going to happen today for Mother's Day I'm going to take Denise to Lowe's um Lowe's hardware store Lowe's store and guess what we're going to buy flowers and she's going to fill our back patio she's going to fill our front porch with all these flowers and she's going to love the beauty of all those flowers and no matter how much she wills it no matter how much she wants it if she wants those flowers to bloom and never die guess what it's going to happen because spring is here summer's here fall's going to come and winter's going to happen whether we want it to happen or not and here's what we need to understand as we think about the seasons are inevitable the changing of the seasons is that God is sovereign over all the seasons regardless of what season you and I find ourselves in today God is still in control god is still in charge we may not agree with the decisions that he's making about our decisions but he is still in control and here's one of the things that I've learned as we think about that and the fact that seasons will change here's the best way that we can we can deal with those changing seasons is that we simply need to embrace the seasons sometimes when a season comes our way regardless of what that season is and it's not the season we signed up for it's not the season that we won and it sure wasn't the season that we were expecting or the one that we think we deserve we push back and we push back and we push back and we miss the very purpose the very reason the very goodness of that season whether it's a good season or a bad season the best thing that we can do is embrace that season we're gonna go through a couple of seasons and we're gonna get our first snow around here aren't we i can keep looking at my snow shovel hanging on the garage wall and just think "No no no no no." Will that keep it from snowing absolutely not so you know how I embrace that season i walk over I pick up that snow shovel and I look at my wife with great love going "Honey it's here here you go here's your snow shovel." That's how we embrace that season i'm kidding about that of course but just simply embracing that it allows us to experience the joy and find some kind of joy within that season things and if you're writing down that was the first one here's the second thing that we can learn about those seasons seasons are not pleas or some seasons are not pleasant but they are purposeful some seasons are not pleasant but they are purposeful you may not can control the season but you and I can control the response to that season and that's where we find the purpose this past week I took my bike up Water Canyon all the way at the very top about six miles up and I loved riding up there it was only my first or second time to ride all the way to the top but I was very disappointed when I got about twothirds of the way up because instead of the beauty of the Waterton Canyon all I saw was burnt trees because when the fire all hit that was part of the canyon that actually burned and it was just looked like you've seen it before it looks like black toothpicks sticking up out of the ground and I thought what what a waste what what a just sad disappointment until I got home and I did a little research on the internet and I thought and I asked the question so what happens when a forest catches on fire you realize how much purpose is behind a burnt forest my scientific knowledge revealed this that when those force catch on fire and they burn and all you see is the black looking toothpick sticking out the ground actually that's promoting the nutrient cycle because the ashes from that fire are put back into the soil and those trees will come back fuller and better in fact there's a good possibility wherever we drive in the Denver area when you see a beautiful site full of trees whether aspen trees or or fur trees or pine trees whatever you see at some point in the course of history those trees might have caught on fire and the beauty that you see and while you're wild and overwhelmed by those force at that point it is because at another time that force went through a season of not so prettiness at some point somebody drove the same you're driving through when you see all those and all they saw were black toothpicks sticking up out of the ground and those folks when they saw that site whether it was 20 years ago or 50 years ago or hundred years ago they probably looked at and thought "What a terrible sight." Yet there was purpose in the season that those trees went through when they caught on fire that brings us beauty today and so Seasons are not pleasant they are purposeful now I know that's easy to say when I'm standing up here and I'm going "Keith are you in a good season or bad season?" I'm in a good season and it's easy to preach it when you're in a good season it's harder to live it when you're in a not so good season but because as God is sovereign and we can't change the seasons we know there's purpose in every season that we're in and here's the last that I share with you every season has its own beauty every season has its own beauty the problem with looking at beauty is often it takes looking in the rearview mirror to see that beauty that when we're in the middle of that season you may not feel it too well you may not see it too well but the beauty is there this morning my wife and I got a little video from our my son and daughter-in-law in in Charleston South Carolina and is wishing happy Mother's Day but it was a video of my two grandkids my one grandchild Scarlet is three and a half years old and she is sitting at the table as pleasant and nice as she could be and she's coloring and you're going "That is the perfect child right there she's quiet she's coloring on her own she's staying in the lines." And then they took the video and pointed to the little sister who's about six months old and she's on the floor just tearing at paper pulling things down she did not look like the perfect child if all you could see was a child tearing up the paper you wouldn't think it's a beautiful moment but we're able to see what she's going to look like and hopefully behave like in another three plus years are you with me that every season is beautiful you may not see it you may not feel it you may not understand it right now but every season that God inevitably puts us through with a purpose has beauty in that season and as we talk about seasons there are so many different seasons in life that we could talk about that we could look at but there's one particular season that I want us to focus on a little bit more today and fittingly that season is motherhood and so as I prepared and thought how can I teach and preach a lesson over motherhood when I'm the furthest thing from a mother I went out and solicited and found three expert mothers and I would like to bring them up now introduce them to you and we're going to hear from the experts and not the pastor today when it comes to motherhood in the seasons you find yourself in so ladies if you'll come up here at this point and let's have a little time together as they walk up here probably a little nervous a little anxious would you walk would you just welcome them up here at this

moment like I said I brought the experts up here now they would be the first to say "Are you really experts?" But your mama so you're more experts than I am in all of this let me introduce them to you first on my far over farthest from me over here is Liz Johnson and she represents all the mothers with kids in the house do we have any of those here today with us that you still are raising kids and they're living in the house it was funny Liz when you came this morning you came early and and Nick your husband had to bring the two boys and I said "Are they coming?" And her response was "I hope so." So welcome to mom that your hands are full she's the one when I texted the ladies going "Hey can I see you all here at 7:30 tomorrow morning?" Both the other two said "Yes yes yes." And Liz says "I hope to be there by 7:30." So Liz Johnson um and then we have Lori Reid lori's here she's not only a mother but she is a grandmother lori tell me your grandmother name um it's Nory nori yes okay and you have one granddaughter yes two sons yes two daughter-in-laws yeah just one one daughter-in-law yes and oh yeah the other guy up there too your husband Sean right okay so we're so glad so any grandmothers in the house today that we have here okay y'all are being a little shy here mamas okay so there's some participation that we're going on here any grandmothers in the house here today okay give it up for them and then last but not least we have Mary Jones and Mary you're not only a mother you're not only a grandmother you are a great grandmother as well also would you please welcome Mary Jones as a great-grandmother and what is your name as a grandmother gg gigi gg gigi and how many grandkids do you have i have five grandkids and how many great grandkids two two and of those seven which is your favorite yeah yeah that's the answer right there yeah that's the answer right there whoever you have in front of you right then is your favorite isn't it okay so listen here's what I want to do i want us to enjoy this and like I said there are the experts as we talk about the seasons of motherhood both the good and the bad the easy and the difficult and I've just got some questions that I want to ask you ladies and just let us hear coming from the experts here and let's start with you Liz how do you teach your children about God in everyday moments you have two boys yes yep i have two boys i think when I think about teaching them always actions speak a whole lot louder than words right so I can say what I want to say but doing and providing those actions for them to model and imitate is really where it comes from i had an expression one time i had a plaque on my wall when my kids were young and it said this "Daddy walk a little planer i'm having trouble hearing what you have to say." And so that always spoke to me i remember my son was like two years old i was carrying him one day and walk down the steps of our house and out of habit I would just spit and he was about two years old and I notic every time he walked out of the house guess what he did he would spit too so I had to learn up some of my my my habits there but yeah they watch what we do absolutely they do as a mom okay when is it most difficult for your words to match what you're saying oh good question um there's a there's a prayer that I keep in the back of my head that says "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change." Because there are lots of times that those boys are just as stubborn as I am and I try my hardest to just breathe right there's times where I'm like I want to change this but I can't so I need God's help to help change their whatever this is right sometimes it's I want them to try harder i want them to pick up their toys without telling me "No I don't want to do that." Um but a lot of it is most of the time just reminding myself that as much as I want them to do it I need them to want to do things right so reminding myself to let God be in control of my actions as well as theirs and Lori for you two grown sons right now um can you think back what was a challenging season of motherhood for you um I had lots of them uh with two boys and I was one of three girls growing up so uh I would have to say the first one that comes to mind to me is I was a new mom and we moved uh with a three-month-old to Elk City Oklahoma which out in the middle of nowhere and I had no family uh no friends and Shawn was working which is what he did and that's I was happy for him that we had a job and everything um but I secluded myself um because I knew nobody and God brought us to a church and God brought a woman into my life who uh took me under her wing and just showed me how to be a mom and it was okay to fail and u then I had then my son had nine grandmas in that little town because of that so yeah and you shared with me one time that as a mother raising your kids you went through some old ups and downs of your own spiritual faith how did you negotiate that as you're trying to live your faith out from your kids but you're trying to negotiate your own faith as well um I had a Bible study that I went to i had a nice small group here at this church that we finally got involved in when we moved here and the um just God's word i I became more with a relationship with God and uh I didn't have that before and it made all the difference in the world once I get that relationship with him and relied on him and let him take hold of me and help me and Mary great grandma Gi you have tried to pour into your kids you poured into your grandkids now you're pouring into your great grandkids as you think about the legacy that you want to leave for your grandkids talk to us about that oh um a legacy what I would really like and what I hope and pray for is that um they're kind they're caring they're helping to others they're good friends to people and just um keep on loving Jesus milo is three and a half and he talks about Jesus in his tut so it's really adorable to hear them when they talk about Jesus and that we just hope to foster that that love and praise and give thanks and that's the legacy I hope that they see and live is there anything specific you as a great great grandmother do to try to foster that legacy i do whatever they ask me to do you know if it's kick soccer ball for two hours we kick soccer balls um the baby is just now uh six months old so she's just really learning who I am but she's happy now she's not afraid um but with Milo I just try to stress um the goodness and the friendliness and I can see it when we go to the park how he throws his ball to another kid and say "You want to play that?" to me it just highlights a good life ahead for him and you know what the best part about being a grandmother or great-g grandandmother is don't you you get to send them home after a while okay when they don't share that ball with the playmat you're like "It's their parents fault i need to talk to the parents about that." Yeah hey Liz back to voice i'm sure y'all are having arranged schedules every week just trying to make things happen and figure out when you're going to eat dinner in there how do you find time for your own spiritual journey how do your own time with God in the middle of all that's going on as a mom i had an answer and then I listened this morning and for every season there's a time for every activity under heaven and time is it right every day we get 24 hours and we get to choose how to use them and most of it just prioritizing our time and while lots of times when I prioritize time for myself I could say you get kind of that guilt feeling of there's there's other things I should be doing but if I don't take care of myself then I can't take care of anyone else so it's putting thought and intention into every hour that you have so that you use it to the best of your ability i know as I talk to moms again this is the non-expert here talking but but it's easy for moms grandmothers grand great great-grandmothers to fall in that comparison trap my fear church moms is that we'd bring three ladies up here and call them quote the experts and they would say that be the first to say they're not the experts but there's like I can never be like them they must have it all together they must have the perfect kids they must have the perfect family um I've met your families and that's not true so I just want to let everybody know that for just a second um but Lori what would you say to that mom who's feeling defeated as a mom whether it's emotionally or as a mom or even spiritually going I can't even find two minutes to go use the bathroom by myself much less spend it with God right what would you say to that mom unfortunately I've been there several times i've broken down inside of a car crying before um and then all of a sudden in the back seat I hear a little voice that says "Mommy are you having a bad day?" And those little nuggets like that make you realize okay God's with me and he's in my children i'm doing something right for him but I would say to all the ladies friendships friendships are crucial for moms all ages of women um that was my uh biggest thing i have friendships that are 13 years older than me 10 years younger than me and they all have uh been put in my life at the right time and they helped me through being a mom a lot and you want those friendships that you're not always feeling like you have to measure up to right you want those friendships that you can just be real with yes you want those friendships that you can just be honest with and they'll be honest with you as well mary for you you've gone through the generations now and so there's some maturity and wisdom I'm sure you've gained what is something your self now would like to tell your 30year-old self when it comes to mothering that all that worrying I did it didn't matter the kids grew up they became responsible adults they're pleasant to be around they're successful they're happy they're loving and many friends um and they follow Jesus i have one that's in Bolivia still on his mission trip my son The granddaughter just got back from a nine month mission trip to four countries so I just am so thankful to God that they listen to him yeah and this question is not on we're going about to go off script so this is really going to get good now folks you ready for this for the mother out there whose child or grandchild or great grandchild is not walking with Jesus in the way they hoped what encouragement would you share with them because we can't force it right i mean you can pray and and maybe some of us in this room we have made the mistake of trying to force our kids into the Jesus box but they have to make that decision what wisdom would you give parents for moms so I have one of those and um all you can do is pray and be an example um show them that you love them who for who they are and not give up hope that that they will come around and God will keep penetrating that heart with them anybody else i would say the same thing that I have one a 16year-old that you know when they're 16 they have their own life but he's kind he's courteous he's polite he's respectful um he may not take out the trash every day he's supposed to but Lou your husband or your 16-year-old right now yeah that would too but um is just a good boy and he's full of joy and that's when I see that in those kids my heart is full i remember when my daughter was six or seven and she was at that stage she was asking questions about Jesus living in her heart to be her savior and I would look at her and look at her and thinking there's no way you're close to that girl there is no way i was struggling with her spiritual journey like she was moving steps forward that I as a parent was struggling with and I remember my mentor said to me Keith it takes as much faith for you to save her as faith for her to let Jesus save her and there was this wisdom like I at some point as a parent I had to let go and I think maybe part of what you're saying too as you pray and maybe you're one of those parents moms out there that you're just going that child is just not that grandchild is just not fill in the blank there that at some point we speak words of wisdom to them but there's this moment of faith that we have that we release them to Jesus doesn't mean we don't keep guiding them doesn't mean we don't keep praying for them but sometimes we can overor correct over control and almost move them away from Jesus instead allowing the Holy Spirit to come and pull them to Jesus in that okay we're running out of time real quick one moment Just a celebrated moment in motherhood grandmotherhood great-grandmotherhood can you think of one off the top of your head oh gosh probably opening the door to my grandson's house and having this three and a halfyear-old jumping up and down gi Gi Gi i mean that's I mean it does life doesn't get better than that it's just full of love and so as mothers you have seasons of joy seasons of happiness but there's not always all the seasons are in joy and happiness and Lori I want to ask you you just are just not just but still going through a season of grief not as a mother but as a daughter of a mother because you lost your mom two months ago talk to us about that how do you balance a day like today that's full of joy and you're not losing the joy of your own family but yet you're experiencing grief um I just got back from Oklahoma for a celebration uh for a nephew graduating from college and it was uh bittersweet because it was it was hard but it was joyous at the same time because my mom wasn't there but I realized my mom is with me every day and even though it is Mother's Day I still celebrate her every day and that's what helps me get through her not being physically here

anymore listen here's what I know we're all in different seasons aren't we as mothers your seasons may be a lot like the weather here in Denver it could even change from day to day to day but I want to remind you whether it's a season of grief that you're going through or in the same moment a season of joy a season of Gi G a season of mama we need more we want more give me help me all those that come with it they're all seasons of beauty in fact Ecclesiastes 3:1 says this yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time he has planted eternity in the human heart but even so people cannot the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end and so so many times in seasons we're in as motherhood we don't see it you don't see it from the beginning to end but God sees all of it he sees you the days that you're pulling your hair out and he sees you the days that you wish the kids would just call and wish you a happy Mother's Day he sees it from beginning to end but what he sees than anything else is how he is placing his son Jesus in the life of those that we love the most it is a thing of beauty now here's what we know Lord just like you shared so vulnerably vulnerable vulnerably I I appreciate it there are still those that are hearing this just going I hope it sinks in next year because I don't feel it this year and we want to have a special time at this moment to pray for all moms but if you're a mom here today and you're going I'm not in a season of celebration i'm a season of grief i'm a season of disappointment i'm a season of longing as you said it's ladies around you that gave you the greatest encouragement and we may not all be best friends in this room but here's what I know there is a sorority or group or connectedness of motherhood and I'm gonna ask you three ladies if you'll just step down there we're going to have this time of prayer they're going to be down here but at this point and we've done this the last couple years and it seems kind of awkward to be totally honest with you because it's this moment like what's going to happen if you're mama today and you and Keith our hearts my heart is hurting these ladies would love nothing more than just to pray over you and after those come up I'm going invite all ladies up here in just a second but but if you're a mom here you're going I just I need another mama to hold me i need another mom to hug me i just need a mom to say she is there with me and she understands it i'm going to invite you just to come front here these ladies not going to pray out loud they're just going to pray over you but would you join us up here just so we as a church can pray for you any moms in here that just

told you we do this every year and it's kind of this awkward moment because you don't usually walk up to the front with your stuff do you but our stuff is what we all hope whether we're moms or dads or anybody else thank you ladies and as they come I'm just going to ask all moms they just need all motherhood with them right now moms would you join us up here we're just going to pray maybe you walk up here just going I fit in both categories celebration but there's sadness in my soul right

now and mamas don't be bashful gather in together we all put deodorant on this morning so we're safe okay just come gather in here we want to love each other moms as you walk up maybe the mom you're walking next to is just another mom that just just needs you right there beside

them so moms may I have the blessing to pray over you at this point

moms I pray you sense the transformational love of Christ in the simple everyday moments of motherhood the sticky fingers the tired eyes the quiet hugs may you walk through this season with both intentionality and imagination grounded in presence and guided by purpose i pray your home be a place of holy curiosity divine wonder and deep sacred delight and may your moment of personal reflection stir something real in you leading you to live out your faith in honest actionable ways i pray you learn to let go of what's not yours to carry as God gently shapes your own soul and the souls of those that you love the most may you grow in faith right alongside your children discovering more of God together i pray that you may all of you who are hurting and grieving be held in the tenderness of Christ's compassion may you find that even in the silence the sorrow and the unanswered questions may you find his presence is near closer than your even your own breath may your tears be honored as prayers too deep for words may you feel no pressure to move on but instead be gently invited to move with grace through the grief through the memory and through the moments of unexpected beauty and lastly moms I pray that every one of you in the very core of who you are know this truth christ doesn't just dwell in you he dwells in your children too let these words be your daily invitation to enter into his sacred holy rest for your stretched mind your weary heart your soul and your beautiful life the one that we call mother jesus may your grace abound and every mom in this room may you empower these moms will you hold these moms will you comfort these moms will you celebrate with these moms whatever is needed Jesus in the name of the father son and holy spirit we pray your presence upon their lives and all the people said amen amen god bless you ladies