Shelly A. Faust

Seasons of Nature and Life

by

Hi friend! I’m so happy you stopped by today! This month we’ll be discussing the topic of A New Season and would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below. If you’re not sure how this all started or why I chose A New Season for our theme, you can catch up HERE.

Part 1 - Seasons of Nature and Life

Coincidentally (or not), I started a study of Genesis this week with the First 5 app from Proverbs 31 Ministries. I’m sure you can guess what jumped out to me as I was reading chapter 1 on Monday.

“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years.” Genesis 1:14

God set the natural seasons in order in the first days of creation. If we take time to study them, we will notice an order of progression and change that parallels our own lives, physically and spiritually.

  • Spring – usually listed as the first season because it is the time of birthing, the season of new life, new beginnings.
  • Summer – a time of warming and growth.
  • Fall or autumn (my FAVORITE time of the year!) -boasts of warm colors and full tables, a time of harvest and gathering. A time of reaping and hearts over-flowing with gratitude.
  • Winter – the season of hibernating bears and rest from the harvest. A season when that which was birthed in spring often dies.

And the cycle repeats.

Are you beginning to see the parallel?

In every season there is an awakening and a laying down, a letting go and a holding on, a releasing of something old and a capturing of something new.

Changing from one season to another always involves an adjustment in some area of our lives – a slight right, a hard left, an about face. There is a remodeling, a re-positioning, or a restructuring taking place as we leave the old and enter the new.

Without change, life can become dull, stagnated, and unable to produce fruit. This does not mean everyone will move geographically, change churches, or hop from job to job. Change often happens internally, in the secret chambers of the heart or the private channels of thought. For example, we enter a new season that involves a shift in thinking, a transforming of beliefs, a deeper knowledge of God, or a reworking of inner desires and passions.

But change can also happen externally. Some seasons are more obvious like the stages of life marked with age and maturity. Other seasons we walk through involve education, jobs, ministry, marriage, parenting, friendship, and where we live. We may find ourselves at the end of a season at our job, home church, or community service. We may feel a tug at our heart for a new city, region, or even country.

We have seasons of fruitfulness and barrenness, illness and health, grief and joy, prosperity and lack. Some seasons are marked with celebration and victory while others include loss and defeat. Some seasons are busy while others are spent waiting. Some involve a pouring out of ourselves until we feel there is nothing left and others require a digging in or a refilling until we are overflowing.

Change in every form and stage can be exhilarating, uncomfortable, exciting, or terrifying.

No matter what season of life we are in or leaving or moving into, the Life-Giver sustains us and brings us out to begin again.

God remains the Faithful One in every season of our lives.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

While some seasons come without asking, are forced upon us as natural consequences of our actions, or happen without us doing anything at all, others require an action on our part. So, how do we know when to act? How do we know when one season ends and another begins? How can we know the right time to step out of an old place and into new territory?

By paying attention and listening.

We can hear God’s voice as we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit. Part of the Holy Spirit’s job is to instruct us, guide us, warn us, and help us understand God’s will.

Have you ever felt a sense of uneasiness or unrest in a situation? Have you ever felt an urgency to pray? An internal witness to do something or stop doing something?

These prompts from the Holy Spirit are to be understood and used as guides for God’s will in our lives. They warn us of danger and encourage us to obey and submit to God’s purposes. They give us keys and strategies, red lights and green lights. They are more than a momentary gut feeling or a passing thought. They could begin as such but become much more and do not quickly go away.

The Holy Spirit is a good Helper.

We can also hear God speak in a variety of other ways:

  • A still small voice
  • A confirming word
  • Scripture
  • A song on the radio
  • Personal prophecy
  • A strange coincidence (that is not really a coincidence)
  • Through other people (mentors, friends, leaders, pastors, strangers)
  • Dreams

God can speak to us in any way, shape, or form and at any time He wants.

Today, I want to encourage you to listen for His voice. Look for it. Expect it. Prepare for it. Position yourself to receive it. Be open and willing to be led by the Holy Spirit.

How do we do this? By spending intentional time in His presence and focusing our hearts on Him.

**Since today’s introduction post was a little longer than expected, I’ll be back here on Friday to talk more about hearing the voice of God, share an example or two of a time God spoke to me about a new season, and how I responded (or didn’t).

Let’s chat:

  • What is your favorite season of nature?
  • What are your thoughts on the different seasons in our lives?
  • Have you heard God’s voice in moving from one season to another? Has He required an action on your part? A letting go of the old? A stepping out into the new?

Scriptures:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, 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 (ESV)

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” – John 14:26 (ESV)

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 16:13 (ESV)

“And your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21

The Conversation is Starting SOON! And the Winner Is . . .

by

Hi friends! Last week I announced I’ll be writing around a theme for the month of September. That’s right. I’m getting organized and intentional and I’m blaming it all on Compel Training. :)

(Don’t know what Compel is? Find out HERE.)

So, starting this Wednesday, September 2nd, we’ll be exploring the topic of A New Season. I’ll post every Monday and Wednesday and wrap things up on the 30th. If you missed the announcement and want to read more about it, you can do that HERE .

The announcement alone caused quite a stir so it’s safe to say we will have lots to talk about. Blog comments, emails, and even a few phone calls from some of you let me know I’m not the only one who needs a little help getting out of my comfortable place and bravely going where I’ve never gone before. (And just so you know, that’s exactly what I’m expecting to happen here. We are going to help each other.) I can’t wait to get started. I hope you’ll join the conversation.

Some of you tried to put your email address in that little box to the right of this post (see it up there under the pretty pink flower banner? OR if you’re on your phone, you can find it at the bottom under the comment section) to make sure you didn’t miss a single post of our series but that little box was not cooperating. I’m so sorry about that. I have good news! Thanks to a very smart and generous friend, it is now working! If you haven’t signed up already and you’d like to, you can do that now.

Oh, I almost forgot! We had a little contest, didn’t we? I’m excited to announce the winners of the very valuable painted rocks 😉 Drumroll please!

The winner of the Pause rock is Jeanie Benson.

The winner of the Pray rock is Stacey Mendro.

Yay (insert confetti and balloons)! Congratulations, girls! Email me your mailing address and I’ll get these little guys on their way.

I’ll leave you today with some pictures from my weekend (which included a spontaneous beach trip with my daughter, Brooke, and friend, Dawn, and my Granny’s 97th birthday celebration!).

Ignore my cheesy smile in the pic with my Granny. She’s so cute I just couldn’t not post it.

And if you’re wondering about the feet, well, it’s the beach. Who doesn’t go to the beach and take a feet in the sand picture? (I just happened to take two. One in the bright Texas sun and another at sunset. Did anyone catch my Periscope of the sunset?)

Ok, now what did you this weekend?

11908592_10153003820830614_1239568619287387927_o 11907143_10153004028820614_196476233074207730_o

11050097_10153004062945614_6601834940244130222_n 11227556_10153005828265614_7419414238754809327_n

Go have a FABULOUS Monday! Love y’all!!

I Just Need to Say This

by

I know I’ve been quiet here. I do that sometimes when I’m having some feelings I’m not quite ready to share or sure if I should even share them at all. But today, I’m diving in.

I hope that’s okay?

And if you need to dive in here, too, I would love to have the company. You know, sit across this cyber table with a friend and feel these feelings together? Maybe say a lot of “me, toos” and “I know, girl” and grab a sugar-free mocha or Coke Zero?

I would really like that.

Because I cried today.

I’m sure my tears joined a pool of other mamas as you all sent your kiddos back to school, too. But it’s been a whole year since Logan has been to public school since I home-schooled last year. And I guess that’s part of the reason for these feelings. I’m not quite sure what to do with them.

Part of me feels like I failed. And I totally did in many areas. And the other part of me is high-fiving myself saying Woo-hoo, you survived a whole year of home-school and you’re still here to blog about it (because some days I wasn’t quite sure I would – like the day my ten year old locked himself in the bathroom and refused to come out).

And then I feel sad again and then guilty and then I remind myself of all the reasons why I don’t have to carry guilt or feel sadness and that helps a little. And then I wonder Did I make the wrong decision? and Well what in the world do I do now? and How do I do that? and I think to myself That just doesn’t seem possible. Can you see how this conversation is going? This is why I totally needed my girlfriends. I love my hubby but he does not always love this kind of conversation. Like never.

So I mopped and did laundry and made beds and cleaned out the refrigerator and now I’m going to start on the flower beds around the front porch. You know how it goes. We busy ourselves to avoid feeling sometimes. I hate it when I do that (except my house gets really clean and I do love that).

That’s why I decided to take a break and spill here. And then just hit publish without even editing.

Real life, messy, unedited conversations are good for the soul.

Real life messy unedited conversations

So I thought maybe I would use all these feelings to do some digging and uncover more than just the issues with this home school thing. I think there’s a lot more. Like this whole new season I’m entering (this whole new season I’m being dragged into).

Anyone else have a hard time with change? With moving out of your comfortable places and into uncertain, unfamiliar territory? Or having some doubts and anxieties about what was and now what will be?

See how obvious it is that this is about so much more than home school?

I thought so.

Maybe we can continue this talk over this next month and get some things handled together?

I promise not to ramble so much and for sure I’ll do some editing.

I even did a little organizing and made my first editorial calendar this weekend (thanks to Suzie Eller and Compel Training). I picked a theme for September (actually the theme picked me and in a minute you’ll see it and nod your head, I’m sure) and I’ll write about it twice a week. I even sent some of you a questionnaire and survey form and you were so kind to respond so thank you for that. I was amazed at how similar our answers were. We are all very much alike and that’s comforting to me.

More proof that us girls need to stick together (or at least have an occasional coffee date and feel all these feelings together).

Our theme for September will be A New Season – hashtag #anewseason (look at me getting all fancy with a coordinating hashtag). Some of our conversations will look like this:

  • How to Recognize When an Old Season Ends and a New Season Begins
  • How to Move Forward When You Feel Like a Failure (ahem, hello home-school, ETC)
  • Birthing a New Season: The Pain of Transition
  • Overcoming Fear and Anxiety in a New Season
  • Breaking Up With Comfortable
  • The “Perfect” Enemy: Letting Go of Perfection
  • When Friends Don’t Go With You Into a New Season
  • Five Things That Keep You Stuck in a Old Season
  • How to Help Others Succeed in Their New Season

Some of those titles may change a little, but you get the general idea, right?

I’m also working on some things for a women’s conference I’ll be speaking at in Canada the last weekend of September so we may chat about that, too. Or maybe I’ll send out another survey or questionaire. Let me know if you’d be interested in brainstorming some ideas with me and I’ll add your email to my list.

Also, if you haven’t signed up to receive my blog post updates in your email and you want to, you can do that at the top right hand corner of this page.

One last thing.

I’m extending a giveaway I started on Periscope this weekend (because zero people entered and well, I need someone to enter so that I can have a drawing). If you leave a comment here or on Facebook or sign up for my email list or share on social media (be sure to let me know you did so I don’t miss it), you’ll be entered once for each for a chance to win these amazing, heir-loom quality, probably-should-get-insurance-because-they’re-so-valuable -reminder to pray and pause – rocks (aka Logan brought these to me from the river behind my house and I whipped out my paintbrushes and got busy and they cost $0.00 but they are cute).

FullSizeRender (2)

If you read all the way to the bottom of this very long, rambling post, thank you for hanging in there. :)

Now, let’s chat:

Did you send your kiddos off to school today or recently? Home-school, public school, private school?

Are you clinging to an old season or wrestling with a new season?

 

Meta