Seasons of Love

A little heart I made on the ground during snow week.

March 16, 2021

Something that I've noticed after being in the United States for awhile is how seasonal everything is. We went from fall-themed, Thanksgiving decorations, to Christmas and New Years, and then immediately to Valentines. Now, every store is colorful with light pastels for Spring and Easter. Some friends and I went to Walmart the day right after Valentines, and they were already decorating for Easter!

One of my friends commented about how it had something to do with the desire to cater to customers in a fast-paced economy, but my mind immediately went to the overwhelming feeling of hardly having enough time to enjoy one season before the next one arrives.

Yet, not everyone enjoys every season. For example, many people struggle with the amount of "couple-y" content posted on Valentine's Day. To them, it may seem like unnecessary fluff. For those who have not found contentment in their singleness, it can seem like couples are rubbing it in, and their loneliness can feel so much deeper. Sometimes these people who are struggling have made a relationship their main goal, and every day that they don't achieve it they can feel like something is wrong with them. At Ouachita, where many people come with the expectation of a "ring by spring," seasons like this one can bring many negative emotions.

Other people can go to the other extreme and idolize singleness, feeling that you can achieve so much more for the kingdom of God because you are not tied down, or that your relationship with God will always be your priority when you're single.

Vulnerable moment: that was me for some time!

Many pastors or even Christian influencers talk about taking advantage of your singleness and how it can be such a productive and beautiful season. I read Paul's writing in 1 Corinthians 7, saying "It is good for [the unmarried and widows] to remain unmarried, as I do" and interpreted what he was saying to mean it was better to be single all the time. For starters, I had interpreted the Scripture wrong, but it revealed my belief that singleness and independence was best. However, when the independence of following my own dreams—no matter how Godly they might seem—became more appealing than following God and practicing self-sacrificing love, singleness grew into an idol. I justified my belief by thinking that since I want to go into missions, it would be almost impossible to find someone with the same calling. Examining my belief even further, my idolization of singleness also came out of pride that I could do everything on my own, selfishness in only looking for what I want, and maybe even a little bit of fear that I would never find anyone so it was better to be at peace with that than to fight it and put my heart at risk.

I realized that these beliefs and this pride was making me feel like I was better than some people. That is not loving! In trying to protect my heart and keep it pure, I made my heart more tough and impenetrable—not just to love that might someday come, but to love pouring out on others through service and sacrifice.

Here's a controversial statement for today's culture: there is no season of love that is better than another. Being single is not always better than dating or marriage, and dating or being married is not always better than being single. In every season, we must work hard at being excellent in our love. If real love is not manifested through our lives on a daily basis, then in the words of 1 Corinthians 13, "we are nothing." The key thing about that verse is that it is good things, such as giving everything to the poor or having a faith that can move mountains, which become nothing without love. Our love should not be defined by culture's standards, or the image they give, but rather, it should be a reflection of God's love.

Every day, I am learning more about what God's love looks like. In February, we had record-breaking snow in Arkadelphia. The next week, there was warm rain that flooded the dip between the freshmen dorm buildings. Then, we had a tornado alert and later we saw a picture of a tiny funnel cloud above Walmart. Later, we had a beautiful week of sunny skies and warm weather. It was as though we were cycling through all the seasons in a month! While it was snowing, I was reflecting on how God's love for us is white and pure like the snow, covering our sins and mistakes with a blanket of all that is good and true. However, the snow melted so quickly, and by the next week we were able to have a lake day. God's love never disappears in that way. It doesn't change, like the weather conditions in Arkadelphia! Our love should be the same way, not being subjected to the climate of our hearts and what we are feeling, but constant and enduring.

My prayer is that we may truly enjoy each season of life and of love before the next one arrives. May we love the people in that season deeply and wholeheartedly, whether its friends, or family, people at church, school, or anywhere we go. May our actions be led by love, and may we love wholeheartedly. I pray that the Lord will help us to cultivate love in our hearts.

I encourage you to find new ways to love those around you, not necessarily when you feel like it but just because we are called to love. We serve a God of infinite love, and that means that we can find an infinite amount of ways to love one another.

Yours truly,

Isa

P.S. I havent updated you in awhile, so here are some recent news: I got to join the Carl Goodson Honors Program, Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society in Education, and Alpha Chi, the top 10% of scholars at OBU. Here are some pictures of the KDP induction:

We also got to go to Los Agaves, a Mexican restaurant with Olivia and Breanna which was such a sweet memory!

We came to celebrate Breanna's 1-year anniversary of learning Spanish! So proud of her!

More soon!