A Reason for Every Season

Seasons of interest definitely define certain time periods in our lives.  As a growing teen, I was consumed with the cheerleading and water skiing season.  Seasons in my adult life have included teaching, scrapbooking, and photography.  (Not to mention the monster season of taking care of a critically ill child).  And as per my personality, I have pursued each season with gusto, consuming all knowledge that I could about that particular subject.  When I do something, I tend to do it all the way--sometimes a good thing, sometimes to a fault!  No matter, when I see a particular season coming to an end, I find myself mourning and questioning all of the time and resources that I've poured into a particular hobby or job.  

If you are only a blog reader of mine, and you don't know me personally or aren't friends with me on Facebook, you probably haven't realized that yet another season has started for me:  the essential oil season.  As I was struggling to find my spot in the professional photography world, I took the plunge into using Young Living Essential Oils for our family.  This was something that I had been looking into for a while, and when I bought our first oils in July, I had no idea the doors that were going to open up.  At that point, I was praying for God to give me some kind of direction for my photography business, all the while not wanting to let it go because of all the time I've put into it.  As we started using the essential oils and seeing positive results, I instinctively knew that this was a path that God was leading me down.  But what of my other endeavors?  Leave them behind?  Try to do it all at once?  

As I talked to Brian about the thought of saying goodbye to my photography business, he reminded me that all is not wasted.  The skill set that I bring to the table when it comes to marketing essential oils is one of good photography and good design skills.  Skills that create fliers for my classes that look like this:  

And while driving home from yet another one of these classes Monday night, I had a good laugh at God's perfect timing and planning.  He does nothing by accident!  Here I am, a user of essential oils.  I've decided to sell them, which means I need to both market and teach others about their uses.  Hmmm . . . does anyone else see where I'm going with this?  

Me.  

A former teacher. 

Skilled in photography and design.

A heart for families like mine with health issues that modern medicine can't fix.

It's all being woven together in a beautiful design!  All of the talents He has blessed me with coming together to spread the word about God's healing oils!  Not a single moment spent in those other endeavors wasted.  All that time spent scrapbooking, I learned so much about design and layout.  Class after class and photo shoot after photo shoot, I'm an expert in shooting and editing.  My teaching skills?  They're a little rusty, I admit, but I've been teaching since I could walk and talk (just ask the stuffed animals and shoes that represented all of my students in my childhood classroom) and it's all coming back to me in an easy way.   

Now.  

I am still doing photography, but I've simplified a few things about the business that will free me up to spend some time working on these classes.  I couldn't totally give it up yet, because I truly love "shooting people" and seeing their reaction when they see themselves in beautiful light and surroundings.  

It is so unreal sometimes, these paths that God leads me down.  Sometimes with resistance, but always with faith, I keep following where He leads.  Where once I couldn't hardly breathe without having every moment planned to a tee, I now look forward to the next big thing He will push me towards. 

There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under the heavens . . .  

Ecclesiastes 3:1