a time for every purpose under heaven...

to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven

ecclesiastes 3:1

the beauty in the way God designed the four seasons is that, though each one is distinct, they all work together to bring life and growth. spring is a period of freshness and new life. summer sees growth and productivity. autumn is a time for harvesting the rewards of past labors. winter is the season of dormancy and closure. each season has its own unique beauty and makes a significant contribution to life.

just as God planned seasons in nature, he planned seasons in life as well. life has its springtime, when we begin new and we work diligently in the heat of the day at all that God begun at an earlier time in our lives. winter brings hardship, but we remain hopeful, for another spring is just around the corner.

in God's perfect design for our lives, he has planned for times of fruitfulness and activity. he will also build in times of quiet and rest. there will be times when he asks us to remain faithful doing the same work day after day. but there will also be periods of excitement and new beginnings. by God's grace, we will also overcome the cold winters of heartache and grief, for without winter there would be no spring. just as it is with the seasons of nature, these seasons in our lives work together to bring about God's perfect will for each one of us.

taken from: experiencing god day by day by henry t. blackaby and richard blackaby

• Things have been so crazy in my life lately. God has been directing me and calling me into a new season in my life. Inch by inch and day by day he has been revealing this to me. It is so interesting how he works things out.
• All of my life I have had the passion and dream of being an elementary school teacher. 7 years ago God told me no. This wasn't something that God had planned for my life. Instead he started to call me into full time church ministry. WHAT?! Man that is the craziest thing that I had ever heard or even thought of! Well it just goes to show that over time God's desires truely become our desires. After college I was led to Portsmouth First. Now my season and time is up here in Portsmouth.
• God is allowing me to have my desire to be a teacher!! I will be going back home, live with the parents and get a job..
• Along with the fear or moving on to the unknown, I now have to struggle with the thought of leaving the people in Portsmouth that I have grown to love. Knowing though that this isn't goodbye it is see you later. My last day at the church is the 19th of April and my last day in P-town is the 20th of April.

To all my PFNAZZERS...I love you, will miss and will never forget the impact that you all made on my life.

Me...

Me...for...FREE!

I'm Free To Be Me!

At twenty years of age I'm still looking for a dream

A war's already waged for my destiny

But You've already won the battle

And You've got great plans for me

Though I can’t always see

(Chorus)

‘Cause I got a couple dents in my fender

Got a couple rips in my jeans

Try to fit the pieces together

But perfection is my enemy

On my own I'm so clumsy

But on Your shoulders I can see I'm free to be me

When I was just a girl I thought I had it figured out

See My life would turn out right, and I'd make it here somehow

But things don't always come that easy

And sometimes I would doubt

Ohhhhh

(Chorus)

'Cause I got a couple dents in my fender

Got a couple rips in my jeans

Try to fit the pieces together

But perfection is my enemy

On my one I'm so clumsy

But on your shoulders I can see I'm free to be me

And you’re free to be you

Sometimes I believe that I can do anything

Yet other times I think I've got nothing good to bring

But You look at my heart and You tell me

That I've got all You seek Ohhhh And it’s easy to believe

Even though

(Chorus)

I got a couple dents in my fender

Got a couple rips in my jeans

Try to fit the pieces together

But perfection is my enemy

On my own I'm so clumsy

But on your shoulders I can see

I got a couple dents in my fender

Got a couple rips in my jeans

Try to fit the pieces together

But perfection is my enemy

On my own I'm so clumsy

But on your shoulders I can see I'm free to be me

And you're free to be you

Words and Music by:

Francesca Battistelli

• This is by far...my new favorite song right now! The words are so true. When you buy a brand new car everything is perfect, a perfect fender, perfect doors, perfect seats, perfect smell...perfect everything. When you buy a new pair of jeans you think perfection! Hopefully the fit is perfect, the look is perfect, there are no stains and no rips. But after so long both of these things get ran through the mill. You get into a fender bender or you wear your new pair of jeans so much that they begin to thin out and eventually rip. Such is life. The longer you stick around here on Earth the more ran down you become. We try to stop this process thinking that we can become perfect...or like me...I never want to show my flaws. I never want people to know what I am going through...because to me it makes it so much easier. In reality though it makes it harder on myself. I have to realize that I am FREE to be me! Jesus already paid the price and he sealed it in the blood of the lamb!