Can you believe that we are only a few more days until we enter December!? This last half of the year, for me, is always filled with so much excitement. From holidays to birthdays and anniversaries, there is so much fun, but time flies by. In recent years, I have learned the importance of the different seasons of life that we all go through. I look through the lens of the four seasons in nature and see how I continually grow and change in these different seasons. Some are harder than others, but in those hardships, I am reminded of the growth that is taking place and how it will propel me forward. Some seasons are time filled with joy and celebration of where God has me in that moment. In every season, I have learned to thank God for what each reveal about who God has made me to be and how He loves me in all things.

As this season of thanksgiving ends, I don’t want to lose sight of how to be content. This is something I love about November, I get to remind myself of what God has given me and thank Him for it. We move next into December, which to me, is a season of joy, being reminded of the birth of Christ and the weight of the love in that action. These moments are marked by our actions and the holidays that happen in their respective months, and they set the tone for my quiet times and journaling.

Each season brings challenges and new endeavors, choose to grow.

Fall is ending, and this is the time in nature where you harvest the crop that was sown in the previous months. When we look at this through the lens of life, we understand that growth takes time. If I want to be in better shape, I need to be mindful of what I eat and how I live an active lifestyle; these take time and are not a one-time change. For me, in this past season, I wanted to have higher quality quiet times in my mornings. This meant that I had to go to bed at a consistent time, so that I could wake up and sit down. We got a coffee maker with a timer, so that when I go into the kitchen, coffee is ready and I can sit down fully prepared. Was I perfect at the start? Of course not!

What I learned was that I wanted to have more consistent quiet times, so I invested in the things I needed to make that happen. I’m still not perfect, but I am leagues better than when I started.

The goal for this season, was not to be a good follower of Christ, but to be ready to listen to God each day in order to help me grow in every season. My dear Danielle and I have been in a period of unknowns, where we are waiting for God to open the right door, so, in that waiting, I am choosing to press into God.

This should be our mind in every season, because every season brings challenges and new endeavors, and I want to make the active choice to grow closer to the one who will produce new life in me.

In every season, trust God.

Ecclesiastes highlights that there is a season for everything in life and then says in 3:11-12 that, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also given people a sense of who he is. But they can’t completely understand what God has done from beginning to end. People should be happy and do good while they live. I know there’s nothing better for them to do than that.”

It’s hard for me to be in certain seasons where I don’t understand why something has happened or why it feels like nothing is happening. I look at the way the Israelites wandered in the desert for years and empathize with their feelings of being in the unknown. I also am able to see the story after the fact, and see how God provided a way in the wilderness, even when it seemed impossible.

The same is happening to me, I just don’t get to know the end of the story yet.

So, in every season I must choose to remain faithful to God’s ways, trusting Him even when I can’t see Him working.

My word for this year has been faithful, choosing to trust God no matter what. That is why I am choosing to thank God in every season, because in every season there is purpose for me inside it.

Over the course of this month, I have been providing these journal prompts to help you meditate on ways to be thankful for what is right in front of you. This last post will be no different, but a bit more open as we head into the last month of the year.

Your journal prompt this week, is thank you God for seasons.

As you spend time with God, look at where you have been and how God has provided in every season. Then, look where you are headed, asking yourself what steps you want to take so that you can be the best version of yourself that God created you to be. Don’t wait until the end of the year, begin walking in this new season, choosing to thank God for where you have been and where you are headed.

I pray that this month of journal prompts has been life giving to you, and I will see you back here next week.

-Joshua Thomas

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About the Author: Joshua Thomas is a writer by day and superhero by night. When he’s not writing and crimefighting, you can find him reading a good book, sipping warm tea, taking pictures, or dreaming. The young writer doesn’t fully know what he’s doing, but is enjoying the journey of it all. You can follow his hipster photos and Jack Kerouac musings on Instagram @joshua_thomas__