For the first time in years, I can see more light than darkness in my tunnel. The grip of my past has loosened. I am starting to breathe easier and rest more soundly. Pure joy, like oxygen, is flowing through my soul, and I am finally able to receive and feel the good God has in store for me. My season is changing, and it feels good.

And so it is for all of us. There’s a natural rhythm that occurs this time of year. School is out. Kids return home. Schedules relax. Vacations abound. All of this signals the beginning of summer. But when it comes to the season of life you’re experiencing, sometimes it doesn’t change when you think it should.

Hold on and have faith. Your season will change. That’s His promise to us.

Maybe your life’s season isn’t lining up with nature’s, but what would happen if you took advantage of some of this relaxed time this summer to reflect on where you were at the beginning of the year, where you are now, and where you’d like to be within the next year? What are small, daily steps you can take and realistic goals you can set that will move you closer to the light at the end of your tunnel?

Whether you’re dealing with grief, betrayal, depression, financial strain, a stalling relationship or career, God is right there in the middle of it with you and He is waiting for your complete reliance in Him.

It took me 40 years to realize that I have the ability to truly move beyond my circumstances. In these last six years, I’ve embraced my hard season by making quiet time with God a priority, surrounding myself by strong, like-minded people who helped keep my spine strong to break free from toxic relationships that were interfering with me being the woman, mother, daughter, friend and professional God created me to be.

When I truly surrendered my will to His is when things slowly began to change. The first few months of this year, I stretched dollars and patience like never before to make ends meet in search of more provision and stability. In the eleventh hour, He always came through. So many eleventh hour moments make up the tapestry of my hard season.

Then one after the other, prayers were answered. Meaningful projects came my way as I searched for full-time work. A very special friend showed up in ways I didn’t expect. A job tailored to my needs and stage of life with a teenage daughter came to be. Now, we’re leaving apartment life and returning to a house among family and friends we’ve sorely missed, financial recovery is on the way and my heart is feeling more whole.

I look back and am overwhelmed by how far I’ve come, how good God is, how He truly turned my suffering into His glory, and how deeply grateful I am for the trials from my hard season.

It’s summertime. I’m ready to feel the sunshine on my face and have stillness in my mind so that I can carry what I’ve learned along with my small, daily steps to keep moving forward, to continue building an amazing life.

Will you do the same this summer? I hope so because He is waiting to turn your ashes into treasures and reveal a new season in your life.

Today’s post was inspired by Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.