Finally....I've got round to writing my first post! After seeing that I've had over two people visit my blog, (well 85 to be exact) I realised that you guys out there might be interested in the things I have to say....soo, here goes.

Seasons.
When you think of the word 'seasons', various things may come to mind. The seasons of the year: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, herbs/spices or the changes that a person goes through. At this point you might be thinking 'And.....' Well the kind of seasons I'm talking about are the ones where your problems in your social, work or family life seem like they're getting the best of you, or the one habit you're trying to kick isn't budging. These things may have such a weighing affect on us , that it instead of us changing the situation, the situation is changing us.

Driving down an uneven, bumpy road with my Uncle Ron one Sunday in the suburbs of Guyana, I took a second to really take in the simple, earthly beauty of my country, as I was leaving in 24 hours time. I looked over to the palm trees in the distance and watched the cosy wooden houses as we drove past. The breeze was soothing and silence was in the air. It was one of the first times in a few days that I was thoroughly relaxed, no anxious thoughts, no worries, no nothing. Usually I find my mind over crowded with thoughts and it can be a while before I switch off, however as I continued to observe my surroundings, my eyes looked downward into a gutter full of waste and old drink bottles. I expected to see this, but what caught my eye was a beautiful purple lily that stood boldly amidst the dirt. I was surprised to see this, well not the garbage in the gutter (unfortunately this is common) but that this well nourished, healthy plant had survived in such a polluted environment. I couldn't believe it. Sounds silly but I couldn't, it was the only one there.

I was in awe. My mind started to question why it had survived in its polluted living conditions.

A few days back I was praying and asking God to help me through my challenges and to not allow me to be changed through them, but to come out better, stronger wiser and so on. I was looking at myself and all the situations I had faced past and present and could identify how they had affected me in even the smallest ways. Being intrigued by the juxtaposition of what I had just seen, led me to question God again.... and the answer was as clear as day.

Don't let your circumstances affect your growth, let it enhance it, let it beautify you, even if its hard. Use it to bring out the best in you. Let it refine you.

What a breath of fresh air, literally.

This made a lot of sense, I'm sure many magazines, books and people have said this before. But for me this was my light bulb moment. It made sense. It made me see things differently and made me want to make an active mental change. It also reminded me that God will use anything to communicate with us and driving past that particular gutter and seeing that lily was His way of reminding me of what He says in the Bible time and time again.

So my friends, Seasons. every one of them is for a reason ( sounds like pastorial rhyming but it's not on purpose, I promise :) ) Just like summer in the UK, they are over before you know it. They have their purposes whether rough, easy, challenging or strenuous. The key is not letting them change us but growing beautifully through them, ignoring the waste, pollution and dirt.

God Bless
x