March 21st marked the first day of spring. and yet it still feels like winter. We had some beautiful days last week, but two days ago it started to rain, and temperatures went from the high 60's to the low 30's! I am not complaining...the storm went eastward and it is terrible what the tornado did in New Orleans yesterday. Having been through some big earthquakes in California, I can only imagine the devastation the people in New Orleans are experiencing. It seems like in the past two years we have had all kinds of challenges. Many times it felt like things went from bad to worse and sometimes I didn't think it could get any worse. When we started coming out of mandates, masks, vaccines and Covid19, we started facing high inflation, high gas prices and a war in Europe! What else? When does it all end?
Every season has its challenges as well as its beauty. I believe it is also the same with the seasons in our lives. It reminds of a story I read long time ago.
There was a man who had four sons and he didn't want them to judge things too quickly. He sent each one of them on a trip, at different seasons; winter, spring, summer and fall. He asked them to observe a pear tree. When they came back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.
The first son said the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son said it had blossoms that smelled sweet and looked beautiful, it was the most gracefull thing he had ever seen. The last son said the tree was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fullfillment.
The father listened and told them that all of them were right, because they had each seen ONLY one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season. The essence of who they are, and pleasure, joy and love that come from that life, can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.
It is so true. When Galen and I first came to look at homes in Bella Vista, it was summer, and EVERYTHING was green and beautiful. We fell in love with the area. But we often comment that IF we had come in the winter, when all the trees are barren and all the grass is yellow, we may have thought that the place looks depressing and decide not to move. It would have been a big mistake. The winters may not be the prettiest, but the spring, summer and fall make up for it. When we give up when it is "winter", we miss the promise of our spring, the beauty of our summer and the fullfillment of our fall.
Moral of the story
- Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of the rest of the seasons
- Don't judge life by one difficult season
- Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come later
