Season of Love

262,500 minutes.  6 months.  A Season of Love.

6 months more of life.

And what a 6 months it has been!

I tried to see the musical Rent multiple times on Broadway but was never able to get tickets.

A few years later, when Rent was made into a movie, I saw it on my birthday.  Not only was it my birthday, but it was the day that my father had surgery to remove cancer from his body.  I had no idea at the time the irony of that timing.

A year later, I would help plan a kindergarten ‘graduation’ program around the most famous song, Seasons of Love.  My son, Jack would be part of that kindergarten class and sing the song for months. I always joined in.

I loved the music.  Though much about the musical I couldn’t relate to or didn’t agree with morally, the music sucked me in.  I listened to the soundtrack over and over. Seasons of Love wasn’t the only song I loved.  One of the stars, Jesse L Martin is one of my favorite singers of all times.  When he sings the reprise of  “Cover You”, I melt.  His voice is powerful and smooth… it makes me melt.

Before the musical and movie, I never realized that there are 525,000 minutes in a year.

That sounds like a whole lot of minutes, but a year can pass so quickly if we’re not paying attention.

In January, Rent was touring in Detroit and my husband suggested we get tickets and go.  We went on a wonderful Wednesday date night, going to my favorite pizza place in the whole world, then to see the show at the Fisher Theater, where I’ve always wanted see a show, any show.  That is was Rent was icing on the cake.

While we were watching it, I realized that God was trying to get my attention.  In the previous 262,500 minutes, He had been so faithful in the middle of the worst time of my life.  It had been a grueling 6 months, and yet, despite the storms, the mountains, the valleys….God had been so faithful, so close, so kind.  And He didn’t want me to forget or take for granted His love and care in those minutes, or that I had lived another 262,500 minutes at all.  That in the darkest season of my life I had been extravagantly loved and cared for.

I could choose to think of those 262,500 minutes as horrible.  Soul-crushing.  Fearful.  Damaging.  Traumatic.  Daunting.

Or I could choose to think of those 262,500 minutes as faith-building. Encouraging. Miraculous.  I could focus on the love that God, my family, and my friends lavished on me.  The way God and others showed up, served me and my family.  The way God moved the mountains that were in my way.  The way He led me through the valley of darkness. How He never left me.  How He revealed Himself to me through His Word.

The way I have lived the last 262,500 minutes are never how I would’ve foreseen my life going.  Both the cancer and the healing.  The depression and the relief.  The storms and the calm.  The fear and the peace.

But measuring this season as a season of love is the only way I can think of it. The only way it makes any sense to me. God’s love has been so visible.  At times palpable.  His care, his kindness, at every turn.  I am continually amazed at His love for me during this season.

I don’t know what you are struggling with right now, but just like me, you have a choice.

You can choose to see this season as a season of difficulty, or you can see it as a season of growth.  You can see it as a season of pain or a season of love.

I hope you can see your season for the love you feel, the love you see around you.

This is my prayer for you.

May God’s goodness, His faithfulness, His love overwhelm you today.

Seasons of Love Lyrics