My second favorite season is winter to spring. To see little areas of green pop up, bulbs bright in color shooting up through a late snowfall. It is a reminder to me that with death comes new life and new beginnings.
This is part of why I love living in Bend, OR… because we get all 4 seasons!
These are all pictures taken at drake park in Bend Oregon.
I did not take these photos or any other photos on this post.
"We all have moments in our lives
when we sense God is calling us to leave something behind
in order to lay ahold of something new God has for us."
I (Kelsie) am just finishing up fall and entering into a time of winter in my personal life. A time of rest and of knowing my Lord deeper without the chaos of summer. A time of death of things that were once beautiful, so that spring may come and new life may begin.
I have been a part of Crystal Peaks since I was 12 years old. I took 2 years off to do my own thing (a story of its own) and came back in 2006. Not long after coming back, I took a leadership role at the ranch and slowly have been taking on more and more responsibility. I have LOVED it. The past few years I have been the Director of Operations at CPYR and had the blessing to walk alongside and serve the staff there and help Troy and Kim manage the ranch as they have been pulled away to speak and share the gospel. It has been a long glorious summer full of joy, life, excitement and change.
Yet, every summer turns into fall.
In December, Jeff and I started praying about the next season. Specifically, if I should continue as the Director. As we prayed both of us felt the Lord was asking me to step down from that position and into a lighter role at the ranch. I personally fought the answer for quite some time. I love my job, I love the staff I get to work with, and I can't imagine myself not working and pouring into the ministry at the Ranch full time. Yet, I knew that the Lord was asking me to lay this gift down for something new (not better or worse, just new).
Toward the end of December, I laid down my desires and stepped down… taking a new position with lighter responsibility and less time at the Ranch.
I have always loved the vibrant colors of fall, however, with that color comes death. And I rarely have had to sacrifice something this near and dear to my heart. This fall wasn't so beautiful to me. I felt like that tree that holds on to their leaves till they can't hold on any more. Trying to let go as the Lord had asked, but still holding on at the same time. Slowly each leaf has fallen and the death of that season has come.
So now I start winter. A time where I believe the Lord is wanting to cover my life in snow. He is calling me into a deeper relationship with him… to know him more intimately and to trust him. I believe He will work in me under the surface and soon new life will come springing up from under the snow, under the ground.
This is what I trust in. I trust that when God asks us to lay down something that is so near and dear to our heart, He has purpose. And spring always comes after winter… and with it is always new life.
So, please keep us in your prayers as we walk this new road (especially me). And I would encourage you who read this, what is the Lord asking you to lay down? If you are holding on to those last few leaves that are now brown and dead… let them go. Let the Lord work, and soon there will be new life.
John 12:23-26
But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
