Tidbits

About the Columnist:

Amy Johnson chairs the WNAC board of directors. She is head of accounting at Stark Enterprises, a Michigan-based general contracting company. Amy graduated from Welch College in 1998 with a B.S. in Business Administration. She is a member of Calvary FWB Church in Salem, Illinois, where her husband Harlen pastors. Amy enjoys women’s ministry, working with children, and being outdoors.

Thoughts From Amy

BY AMY JOHNSON

I love seasons. I am very thankful to live in an area that offers four distinct ones. The changing of seasons or the weather have become common topics we use as conversation starters. Seasons are something we all have in common. We may experience them differently depending on where we live, but seasons affect all of us.

The same is true in life. Some seasons come and go quickly. Raising children, for example, “Seems like yesterday she was cutting her first tooth, and today I watched her drive away for her last year of high school.” Although some days feel long, it certainly does pass swiftly. Those winter days seem to last forever, but soon time gives way to spring.

The distinction in seasonal transitions is usually easy to recognize. However, the lines between the times in our lives are not as clearly defined, especially when we are busy with day-to-day activities. It’s difficult to see when a season has completed or a new one begins. In any case, we need to take notice. Maybe we should ask ourselves: How do we fill these days, weeks, and months that cumulate to create a season of life? Are we allowing God into every moment? Are we open to His using us for our good and His glory?

Allow Him to intervene in daily life.

I love something in each season. I love the first winter snow (we usually have fall snow) and how it covers the ugly, brown ground and sticks to the trees’ bare limbs, making everything clean, bright, and calm. Watching big flakes of snow join together to blanket the earth is soothing and peaceful. But, when the calendar says it is spring, I don’t like snow at that point! However, I know the time is coming and new life will begin to spring forth as winter gives way to a new season.

The same can be said about our lives—times change. We experience happy, joyous occasions and endure moments of sorrow and pain. However, if we allow the Lord to intervene in our daily lives, we can easily look back and identify the season and see His fingerprints interwoven on each day.