Seasons

As a girl who grew up in Western New York state, I have always enjoyed the seasons changing.  I am a Fall baby and that is truly my favorite time of year.  When I was little, I got a big, thick winter coat each year for my birthday.  In Texas, I may have needed a sweatshirt for my birthday.  Here in Belize, I MAY wear blue jeans on my birthday.  But considering it is a cool 80 degrees, I may wear shorts still:)

I really miss the cooler weather.  Even Texas got much cooler for fall and winter...although you guys act like it doesn't.  It has been very rainy for the past few days.  Great sleeping weather...great anything weather.  It is cooler and nice.  I am not sweating.  That is nice. (when I say cool, it is 25 C/77F at the coldest). The lady cutting Josh's hair and I were talking about how nice it is today and she was like, "it feels like Christmas:)"  with a big smile.  In my head, I thought, "not to me;("

But that is okay.  Because there is another kind of seasons.  The kind we go through in our life.  I am about to enter my last year in my 30's.  No, I am not ashamed of my age.  I feel I have made a great life in these first 38 years.  Or should I say I feel the Lord has made a great life for me.  I have a wonderful husband...that I have stayed married to...and three wonderful children.  I have served faithfully alongside my husband in four different churches.  But I do see myself entering a different season of my life.  I know I am not THAT old...but I do see my age creeping in.  I can't push myself like I used to.  I get tired-er now...I wear out.  Sometimes I just let my house go a little more than I used to.  Kind of like the early days of motherhood, I am in a stage of...my house is full of people and impossible to keep clean...but I am thankful for the people in my house.  One day, my house will be clean...and empty.  In a year from now, I may not feel the same way, but I am very comfortable with my age.  I do not fear getting older...because I feel I still have a lot of things to look forward to.  I don't look forward to my kids growing up and moving away, yet, I also do.  I look forward to grandkids and trips away where I don't feel I have to make so many arrangements before I go.  I look forward to having Lee all to myself one day:)

So, seasons.  Fall here is not filled with pumpkins and pumpkin pie.  I rarely burn candles like I did in the states...the scented ones are just way too pricey here.  There aren't quite the changing of leaves or cool nights.  But, there are other joys.  Other new experiences.

I made rice krispie treats for the first time in Belize last night.  We could only find colored (not jet puff) marshmallows and some off brand of Crisp Rice.   But hey, they were delicious...even though they were the color of green mold.  We sat around, after the LLT meeting Lee taught, enjoying eating them right out of the pan.  It was a fun family memory for me.  And it happened in fall:)  Erika has a HUGE tree on her wall filled with leaves of different colors with sight words on them.  There is my fall.  Erika is learning like crazy.  She amazes me with her sponge-like qualities.  We finish school and she wants more work.  Her friend had a bday this week...and we are a little late, but she wrote a card...all by herself to her friend.  I just wanted to cry.  All the letters were correct, not any were backward, and all words were spelled correctly.  She may have had a little help with the spelling...but I love watching her REALLY LEARN and be so excited to learn more.  Here is another fall memory for me.

So, sometimes we have to learn to create new memories for the season of life we are in.  Sometimes, we just have to find those "moments".   Like yesterday, the girls and I were running errands and we stopped and got a chollis (cinammon/coffee/icecream).  Erika got a mini ice cream sundae.  It was an unplanned thing.  We had dropped off a book to be copied for children's church.  We were just there by Moonclusters....and I thought...that would be fun.  And you know what?  It was.  Another joy of homeschooling.  We finished early and got to enjoy our afternoon.

I am looking forward to setting up the Christmas tree we got half off last year after Christmas.  Christmas will be different again this year.  No extended family.  But we create our memories.  I can find joy in this season of less materialism.  I can find joy in this season of just enjoying my children.

The other night Tori, Erika and I were playing games.  We have had meetings at our house all week and so the girls and I often go hang out in my room.  I was saying to her how much more we play games here.  And it is because our life is so different here.  And we have to find ways to entertain ourselves here at home more...there are just not very many things to do...especially at night.  But it does create more family time in our case.  And I think that is kind of neat.  Again, a season in my life that may have never happened had we not come to the mission field.

So, what season do you find yourself in???