Seasons of life carry various rhythms with them. Our rhythms determine how we spend our time.
Some seasons carry busier rhythms than others with responsibilities and obligations that keep us moving all day. Some seasons carry slower paces with less tugs on our schedule. Whether you work inside or outside the home, whether you are in the throes of raising children or have an empty nest, you are in a unique season of life.
Just as the seasons of the year affect the tending of the garden, our life seasons affect how we tend our soul.
As a young mom, I kept a spiral of index cards with me with verses to pray through while I nursed my baby. I didn’t have much clarity of mind in those early morning hours but my heart was drawn towards God. So I would rock, nurse and talk to the Lord about the verse on my spiral that day.
As a busy homeschooling mom with two active boys, I would keep memory verse songs in the car to listen to as I drove the boys to activities. We would all sing along, talk about and memorize the verses together. Most of those verses are woven into not only my heart, but the hearts of my sons, and that was a bonus gift!
Now that my boys are graduated and often off in their own directions, I have extended time to spend with the Lord, tending my soul through Bible reading, studying and memorizing. I ponder truths with Jesus in the garden and tell Him all the things as I walk the dog in the mornings.
Regardless of the season you find yourself in, God desires you to draw near and the book of James promises that when we do, He will draw near to us. His heart is for relationship with you and with me. In every season we can grow weary and overwhelmed and need true soul tending that comes only by intimacy with Jesus through His Word.
But just as takes time, little by little, to tend the garden, it also takes time and often creativity to tend our soul in these various seasons of life.
It also takes intention. We will never tend a garden, plucking weeds, fertilizing and pruning by accident. Now will we tend our souls without intention. We have to plan and purpose and even try different approaches sometimes to see what is best in our current season.
In order to best serve you with various ideas towards this end, I am inviting fellow sojourners who love Jesus and His Word to share how they each are tending their souls by His Word in their current season of life. (So check back here soon!) May it offer a plan and purpose to pray through and may we make the time to tend our souls by His Word in this season.
SO, how do you tend your soul by the Word of God in your current season?
Looking for an intentional pause to lean into simple tending tools for your soul? Drop your email below and get a Tools for Tending your Soul to begin tending your soul by the Word.
Love this Mariel!
thanks, cindy! 🙂
This is a good word, Mariel, “Regardless of the season we find ourselves in, God desires us to draw near. It also takes intention. We will never tend a garden, plucking weeds, fertilizing and pruning by accident. How will we tend our souls without intention?”
I am so grateful for the way God transforms our ministry of tending as the years pass. We grow into new and different ways of loving our people as he works in us and enables.us to surrender to him.
I love your gardening analogy! For those of us with more time to garden, we have to remember not to chide those who have littles or less time about the size of their garden—I remember feeling guilty because I didn’t have time to spend an hour a day in prayer when I had two little ones.
yes, I agree! it was a sweet season when I was raising my boys and seeking time with Jesus while having my hands full of babies.
I, too, am in a season where I can enjoy extended time with the Lord – tending my soul. Isn’t it a joy? Honestly, I have just recently begun to really appreaciate enjoy that blessing of this season! Enjoyed your post today!! Blessings –
My Chronic Illness has actually given me more space and time to tending my soul. It has been the great benefit received from illness. THanks for linking up at Legacy Linkup
What a beautiful redemption of the trial you have been entrusted with. Thank you for sharing that, Mandy ❤