Seasons

Tonight I was at Elijah's soccer practice and one of the Ladies was asking everyone what they were having/had for dinner. I said I had a peanut butter and chocolate croissant as I was unloading the dishwasher. She said, "I'm glad my family isn't the only one who eats like that."

Well, we don't always eat like that. Right now we are in one of those "seasons" where we eat a lot on the go or quick and easy foods. We are gone 3-4 nights out of the week and busy like everyone else, so we do what's easiest on any given day of the week. It's not always been this way, but I truly believe we go through seasons.
There have been seasons where I cook 3-5 nights a week, staying mostly home in the evenings and it was a good season. Their have been seasons where we ate at home because we simply couldn't afford to eat out. Our current situation which is crazy and only getting crazier ensures that I don't cook a lot. It's really not worth the effort.

My current season has me home schooling the kids. It has been an amazing season and I pray that it will continue to be. We eat a lot of meals together, more than a lot of families, because we are in a season where that works. I get to have a lot of random conversations with my kids, that if they were in a "regular" school, I would miss out on. I am enjoying seeing them grow into their personalities. I should clarify that just because we get to eat a lot together doesn't always mean we have a lot of conversations at the table. Sometimes at lunch we are all there, reading books while we eat...and I love that my kids are such avid readers that they WANT to read during lunch. (And on a side note, I LOVE hearing my kids giggle and laugh at the books they are reading, it makes my heart smile!) It gives me a little mini-break in the middle of the day, where I don't have to talk or teach. Some nights at dinner we even (gasp) watch a show together while we eat.

We all have seasons in life that we go through, seasons where we volunteer a lot at Church and seasons where we just can't. Seasons where the house stays really clean and seasons when you have to let it go to focus on bigger priorities. We have seasons where we are able to eat together as a family and seasons where schedules are too different and it's hard. Seasons where we can be home with the kids and seasons where we have to work. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 tells us there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

I say, no matter what season you are in, make the most of it, let the guilt go and know that you are not alone. Some seasons are harder than others and some seasons you breeze through. The important thing in all seasons is to keep God first and the rest will fall in place.