Learning to Love…the Season You’re In

“I think that wherever we are we can turn that place into a sacred space where we could do the good work God has called us to do. And then, as we are faithful with what is in our hand, I think God then gives us what is in our heart.”

-Christine Caine

Thursday is here again. Another day to talk about Loving, Learning, and Leading. One thing I think we can always learn more about, is love. Whether you know someone with a difficult personality, a person close to you is in crisis, or you’re realizing the importance of healthily loving yourself—the work of love is never finished.

But there is another kind of love that I believe needs more airtime, and that is loving the place you’ve been planted. It is so easy for us to look at the lives of those around us and want what they have. To go online and dream about what life would be like if we just had that house, moved to that town, or had that job. And it is especially easy to do this if you have been in a season like we have.

On Monday, I shared that we have been in a season of waiting. We’ve knocked on a lot of doors that haven’t opened. We’ve asked more questions than there seems to be answers for at this time. And for a good portion of this chapter, life has felt dried up and barren.

Yet even in this confusing and discouraging desert we seem to be in, life has been good. We don’t love where we are at perfectly. We haven’t figured out the secret to contentment. However, there are a few things we do that help keep us sane in this season. One of those things, centers around food.

Early in our marriage, we started exploring more of what our area had to offer. Living in the middle of farmland, we discovered a bounty of local produce, as well as numerous fruit farms. Around the same time, I read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle—all on the importance of how and where we get our food—and we became convinced buying local was the way to go.

This meant, for the first time, paying attention to the seasons in which food is harvested. We learned spring gives us asparagus, and later strawberries. Early summer means zucchini and blueberries. Late summer corn, peppers, and eggplant.

With both of us loving to cook, and I loving to bake, we’ve found that using fresh food, grown nearby, adds even more joy to our time in the Kitchen. The more we have learned in our culinary pursuits, the more enjoyable it has been to have people over for dinner.

In difficult seasons, food can be an unhealthy form of comfort. At least, in the past, it has been for me. But in this season, I am finding that when food is both an outlet for creativity and for community—it can bring healing and comfort in the best of ways.

It is now the middle of fall. It is time for pumpkins and apples. One of our favorite fall traditions has become apple picking with our closest friends. For most people, traditions are saved for the Holidays, but for us, some of our favorite ones involve walking through bountiful apple orchards—or in other seasons, squatting in muddy strawberry fields—with our “people,” fully enjoying the local harvest.

All of us find ourselves in seasons where it is difficult to find joy, where it is hard to make the best out of things. But we have found that one of the greatest ways is through not focusing on what our season isn’t, but rather by focusing on what it has to offer.