It’s fall. Officially, the season of fall began on September 22 this year. It’s nice that, in someone’s mind, those things have such specific and measurable start dates. But that’s not how we experience seasons, is it?

Usually we only realize that one season is over once the weather changes and we say, “I can’t believe summer’s gone already!”

That’s not just true of the seasons in the year, it’s true about seasons in life.

Life has seasons. The single season. The newlywed season. The young kids season (this one seems really long when you’re in it.) The school season. The teenager season. There are other types of seasons, too.

The divorced season. The unemployed season. The depressed season. The my-parents-are-sick season. The unexpected loss season.

Most of the time, we really only think about these things as seasons once they’re over. Because when you’re in them, any one of these seasons can feel like it’s going to last forever.

But the truth is … life is made of seasons. Whatever your life is like now, it’s not always going to be this way.

Things change. We change. The people around us change. In some ways, that’s encouraging (in difficult seasons). In other ways, it can be disheartening (“I don’t want my kids to grow up!”).

In Ecclesiastes 3, the writer says that God makes “everything beautiful in its time.” And the writer goes on to encourage us to “be joyful and do good as long as [we] live.”

One of the best things we can do through all the seasons of life … is to live with our eyes and hearts open to what’s happening now. Instead of being aware that a season has passed after it’s over, how can we be present and aware and alive and living with joy … right here, right now?

Whatever season you’re in, look for the beauty in it. Look for the joy in it. Be thankful. Because no matter what season you’re in right now … it won’t last forever.