There is a season....

This has been a month of many challenges & crises for so many of us in so many ways whether it is in the world of politics, finances, weather, & even personal loss.  

Ecclesiastes 3:8 says, "To everything there is a season, & a time to every purpose under the heaven...."

The season's come & the season's go.

How important it is to celebrate life in every season. & sometimes it takes some on-purpose planning & a bit of work (sometimes more than a bit!) to make those seasons special & create memories that bring happiness & joy upon remembrance in later years, the memories that establish connection, stability, security & continuity in this otherwise unstable, & changeable world. What we are building & bringing to our families, our friends, our world, through our little personal celebrations bring life. This is our time to sow in this our present. We are birthing our past called memories, which will in turn, birth the future because of what we're passing on. That will be our time of reaping. Past, present, future all linked together. 

February is a time that is set to celebrate love of all kinds.

 A heart-shaped box of chocolates, a card to express loving sentiments, a single long stemmed rose, a romantic night out, or staying at home & cooking those special foods for your loved one(s).

Birthdays to celebrate this month. A time to be born.

& going home. A time to die...

Her name is Nikki. We met at a little country school in the seventh grade, a friendship that spanned almost 58 years. Although I moved over a thousand miles away when I was 28, our friendship was ongoing, keeping in touch through letters (which she also illustrated with whimsical little animals, hearts, or forget-me-nots), phone calls that would last for hours, & always, when I went home to visit family, there would be a time for a get together or two with Nikki, when we would reminisce, or talk about our kids, old schoolmates & especially our 7th & 8th grade years at Bushyhead school, like when our class did a program that was centered around the era of the 1920's & she did a dance routine to "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?" & the practical jokes we used to play on each other, the Spelling Bees, we competed in, talking about the cute boys we liked, playing on the softball team, the end of the school year picnic, or forgetting the lines in the school play,  two of the best years of our lives we both agreed. Sometimes we cried together & sometimes we laughed. Mostly laughed, because Nikki was so much fun! I guess if I was going to choose one word to describe Nikki, it would be 'FUN'. Nikki knew how to do fun! I'm a person who loves to celebrate all kinds of days, like first day of school, last day of school, first day of the month, first day of the season, Friday nights, on & on the list goes, but Nikki was the official 'Queen of Celebration'! She was involved in our hometown Chamber of Commerce for years & was always planning celebrations & contests for the community, heading up huge projects like the 'Jamboree' which had her signature all over it. & she loved it!

Nikki was also a dreamer, so charmingly creative. She would have been a great illustrator & writer of children's books I always thought. There was an eternal youthfulness about her that made her endearing to the grandchildren that she adored. She was an adult that still knew how to play. & did!

& as it is with close relationships, whenever we got together, even after years of separation, it was like we would start where we left off the last time we had seen each other. It was always a comfortable, safe friendship.

In our last conversation we talked about politics, President Trump (who she supported with her whole heart! Actually, whatever she did, she did with her whole heart!). We talked about covid, the state of world affairs, about our kids, grandkids ( she had 'open house' most of the time with those grandkids whom she was so proud of & was crazy about!) prayer & especially about Jesus. She loved Him, but wasn't quite ready to go home, because she so loved her life here.  Life truly is a vapor, as the Bible says, because it seems like just a while ago that we were those innocent, pre-teen 'giggling at everything' country girls. & now she has gone 'home sweet home' ahead of me & left such a great void for all who love her & will miss her presence. Because, we both know Jesus, we will see each other again & that is a great comfort. Whenever I would talk about her to my family, because we knew others named Nikki, I would always refer to her as 'my Nikki' or, my Nik-name for her, ' Nik-a-brick'. (I'm not sure why I called her that.) When my daughter called me to tell me of Nikki's crossing over, I said, "You mean my Nikki?!" My Nikki. Mother Nikki. Grandmother Nikki. Daughter Nikki. Friend Nikki. Sister Nikki. Aunt Nikki. Jesus' Nikki. Our Nikki. & while I am still in the 'Land of Season's', my Nikki is now in the land of forever, where there are no season's (that I know of), but still are many celebrations going on or in the planning stages. I know Nikki is right in the middle of those. I can see her talking to Jesus about doing a Jamboree above all Jamborees!! That girl really knows how to celebrate! Like I said, FUN!!

Until we meet again Nik-a-brick, my dearest friend. Ours is 'a time to keep.' See you in Forever...💖

Raintree Perk of the Day:

"A sweet friendship refreshes the soul."

Proverbs 27:9

A second Perk:

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection & the life. Whoever believes in me, though he (or she!) dies, yet shall he (or she!) live." Yes!! 💕