By Ralphine Major

It is a time of hayfields and honeysuckles, birds singing, warm breezes blowing, and sunrays beaming down.  It is a time for gathering summer crops like home-grown tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, cantalopes, and watermelons.  It is a time of Vacation Bible School, summer camps, and cookouts.  After a long winter and with spring quickly passing by, it is almost time for summer.

Seasons are much like our lives.  Spring is a season of new life and growth after lying dormant through the winter.  A slower pace in summer gives time for enjoyment and vacations.  In fall, we see the end of life as many things begin to die.  I am reminded of the often quoted passage in Ecclesiastes 3—“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven:  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; . . . a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; . . . a time to rend, and a time to sew; . . . .”

All that we have comes from God—our time, our talents, our health, and the beauty of the seasons.  They are all God’s gifts for us to use for His glory and to enjoy each day.  It is almost summer.