It's a New Season! Another Chance for Change

A time for everything. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

This is the time of year we celebrate graduations, from pre-k to middle school to high school to college. This is the time we acknowledge our young people's accomplishments in education. Everyone is celebrating with the Class of 2009 by attending graduation cookouts and parties, picking out graduation cards filled with just the right words, or writing in your best friend's yearbook. Graduation's are really a time to say goodbye to the past and look forward to the future. It seemed like only yesterday my youngest was graduating from kindergarten, my son was graduating from middle school and my oldest was graduating from high school. But this year my wife and I had the opportunity to attend three graduations, Brandi from Middle School, Brett from High School, and Brooke from College. Sitting at each of their graduations I can't believe how fast the time went. Four years seemed to fly by for us but if you were attending middle school, high school, or college it seemed like forever ... but for the Class of 2009 some were wishing they had a little more time left or wishing they could go back to freshman year and do some things a little different...


Graduations symbolize new seasons in your life, filled with new opportunities
and experiences, but also new challenges as well as some obstacles that you may encounter in the next four years.... Preparing for graduation reminds me of the four seasons God created: winter, spring, summer and fall. Whether you just graduated from middle school, high school or college, It may seem like a new season fast approaching all over again... Summer fun is over, days are getting shorter, and nights getting colder...Graduates are on top of the world for a season but as summer ends and winter slowly begins to arrive, it's like starting all over again. Not too many of us look forward to winter due to the fact that the winter can be a little uncomfortable at times. I remember growing up in Pittsburgh and waiting for the school bus to pick us up in below zero temperatures, how I wish spring would come. Freshman year can remind us of those times of uncertainty because we never know just how cold its going to get..... Freshman year, whether your in high school, college, or joining the workforce seems to be the hardest season to adjust to. Everyone is so willing to share their horror stories about the coldest winter they've experienced or better yet their freshman year... "The teachers are so unfair" ... "The homework is way too much"..." and students aren't friendly".... After hearing all of this, who really looks forward to freshman year? The winter season can sometimes leave us a little bothered due to the unexpected snow that falls on our lives, or the sidewalk that looks like it's wet, but is a sheet of ice .... but if we are patient and dress appropriately and learn from these experiences, we can alway dig ourselves out of the snow storm.


Thank GOD for new seasons! I always look forward to spring especially after a rough winter. With spring comes a rebirth. It's like starting all over again. A chance to get it right this time. I enjoy the waking up to the birds, seeing the leaves of the trees budding through the branches. Something about spring wakes us up to the beauty of what GOD created. Some of you are entering your sophomore year of high school or college, a new season to get it right. Some of us experienced a rough winter but thank GOD we made it through and have the spring to look forward to. Enjoy the new opportunities that awaits during your sophomore year. Use those experiences from freshman year as stepping stones to do better. Enjoy the good times and the new relationships you created during your freshman year. This too will be a season that will past quickly and before you know it, you will be craving to hear the birds sing again or the fresh morning smell of flowers blossoming. Use this second year in school to explore new opportunities as a student, join a club , play a sport, make a difference. Allow God to nurture you during this season. Trust him during this time so you can grow in your faith. Your sophomore year should be the year you begin to make an impact as a young adult not only in your school, your community, and your church.


Some colleges and counselor say your Junior year is your most critical year in high school and college. This is the year we begin to think about college choices.... SAT exams, GPA's and if you are an athlete you pray for a break out season. It's also the time when some of us begin to smell ourselves a little and think we can just sit back and enjoy the summer season just
because the spring was so good to us. During the summer months we tend to get a little lazy, we can get a little pre occupied with all the fun that summer has to offer. During the junior year of high school and college, we tend not to study as hard as we did our sophomore year. We tend to take things for granted and sometimes our grades begin to suffer because of this. Some of us begin to give up because it just gets too hot . I 'm telling you to work through the heat. The longer your in the fire the stronger you will become. Junior year has you right at the top of the mountain and you only have a few more steps till you get to the top. Don't give up now... Senior year is just around the corner . This is what you been waiting for. When it gets a little hot, find a fan to cool yourself off. Remember this season only lasts for a moment and before you know it, you're wishing for the sun to shine down on you again.



To the Class of 2010... The season you've been waiting for has finally arrived. All the hard work has finally paid off. It was only yesterday you enter your school as a freshman and now your a SENIOR in high school, a SENIOR in college. This is the season that if you played your cards right, your sitting back taking electives, waiting to hear from colleges, looking for scholarships, driving to school, working a part time job, saving money for prom, class trips, class rings, and yearbooks. Everything is beautiful, just like the season of fall. I love this time of year not only because I was born in October but it's that time of year that everything is just right ... I love fall weather... not too cold but not too hot. I love fall clothes especially sweaters, I love taking long drives and looking how the trees create a rainbow effect on the mountains. Fall is a time we can chill and get ready for a new season to begin again.... As you look towards your senior year, take this time to cherish the memories of high school and college because after this season it 's a cycle that starts all over again. Senior year should be a time to see how all your hard work has paid off. A time to reap a harvest of blessing if you faint not. Galatians 6:9


Ecclesiastes states that there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the sun. So whether your are entering high school for the very first time or starting back over as a freshman in college or entering into the workforce, nothing will stay the same for long. We must be ready to make things happen and create opportunities that will prepare you for when the seasons change. Winter, spring, summer, or fall, some of these seasons we enjoy better than others, but each season is just as important as the last. So no matter what season of life your are in ...know that a new season is just around the corner... and with a New Season always brings about a New Change.