In Between.

I gazed out of my window, noticing the ridge line of the hills surrounding me as we traveled through my home state.  I remembered how the hills looked in the summer while the leaves bravely flourished and clothed the trees.  I imagined how the hills would look once the snow finally came and covered the ground with white wonder.  The beauty of those seasons always filled my heart to its fullest capacity and I never gave much thought to the awkward stage of awaiting snow and mourning the loss of autumn.


But now I saw the beauty in the time in between.  As I studied the handiwork of God, an incredible thought came to me.  Everything looked so barren and naked, as if the earth was stripped of all accessories and left to define itself.  And in that moment, there was such beauty in witnessing what these majestic hills were truly made of.  Beneath the vast colors of autumn and under the weight of newly fallen snow is the same skeleton of earth.  It changes slightly as the years pass, but it shows it's truest self when it is stripped of everything and is left in the in between.


That is such an amazing reflection of how we are.  We spend time mourning the passing of a season in our life and then directly anticipate the arrival of a new one.  Yet we often forget the beauty of the time in between.  We are no longer clothed by the things which once covered us and enriched our lives; it is time to move on.  And just as the trees and hillsides of Eastern Kentucky are stripped and left to define themselves, so are we.  


The time in between is full of moments where we question ourselves and our faith.  It is full of moments where we feel bare and left with nothing.  But it is also full of moments that define us and show us who we truly are.  When it seems as if we are left with nothing and the only option we have is to wait it out, we are stripped to the most essential part of who we are.  It is in this time that we are defined; not by the blessings we have, the people we cherish, or the opportunities we seize, but by the faith that sustains us through all of life's journeys.


The same faith that remains through the passing season.  The same faith that will carry us through to the coming season.  The same faith that is showing and evident in the time in between.  


If you find yourself in the time in between, anxiously awaiting the beginning of a new season in your life, take time to appreciate the beauty of where you are.  Acknowledge the skeleton of your faith and praise God for the plethora of blessings He is about to shower in abundance upon you.  If you find yourself in the time in between, but notice that your skeleton of faith is lacking or non-existent and that you don't like what you see when you're stripped to the essence of who you are, I encourage you to seek God and His kingdom.  Surrender your all to the Creator of it all.  


May God bless you during this time.  It is frightening to let go, and even more frightening to see ourselves as what we truly are.  But I guarantee you that the time in between is just as anointed as the seasons it interrupts.