Stalking Sunsets - The Seasons Of My Life

There is something about watching the sun as it sets. It doesn't matter if you're viewing it on a mountaintop, over an ocean or from your back yard. Scratch that. It is monumentally better from a mountain top or over an ocean but hopefully you can work with me on this.

I have always been a night person. I'm sure there are people in this world who get equal enjoyment and meaning from a sunrise but I am not one of those people. Sunrises are beginnings - they represent something already begun. I prefer to look at the seasons of my life as a series of endings. Endings are not bad; after all, you can't steal second base with your foot planted firmly on first. One must end to begin.

As you watch the sun setting, or as my blog title suggests - God drawing the shade on another day - do you reflect on the peace and purpose you found in your day or do you silently lament another day gone without much accomplished? Do you whisper in your own ear with an uplifting, inspirational message or do you figuratively throw your hands in the air while realizing you blew it yet again?

If you do the later - then welcome to my blog of an imperfect life. As we journey together let us remember to laugh until we cry and love until we hurt. Lest we forget - the hurting and the crying are important. We must not dwell upon them or linger in them or wallow around comfortably. We must treat them like a favorite song - one we can play when needed.

I hope to explore all the sunsets of my life - whether it was the end of a day, the end of a love or the end of a season. The bible says, "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven...." (Eccl 3:1). I will print the entire passage in my next post. For now, suffice it to say I'm not sure if the seasons of my life were in line with what the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, intended when he wrote that scripture but somehow my seasons all seem to fit together. Luci Swindoll wrote, "Life is not some vague process of subtle, illogical patterns placed willy-nilly in our path for us to puzzle over. It's a composite of definitives: joys and sorrows, gains and losses, giving and keeping, laughing and grieving, loving and losing.....on and on until the last numbered day arrives."

Let us continue until our final sunset......