Reason, Season, Lifetime

My sister said something to me last weekend that got me thinking about the poem, Reason, Season, or Lifetime...

Reason, Season, or Lifetime



People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which one it is,
you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

— Unknown

I previously wrote a post entitled, Changed Relationships, where I wrote about how different relationships in my life have changed since my car accident. But, relationships are more complex than reason, season, or lifetime.

Friends that come into our lives for a reason makes sense to me. And, even (at least to some extent) friends that come into our lives for a season makes sense to me. But, somewhere between season and lifetime, I think the line start to blur. I think there are friends that help us through a series of seasons - sometimes consecutive and sometimes scattered over time. ...or, maybe I just have too high of expectations about what friendship is, and what a true lifetime friend looks like. I know it's unreasonable to expect another person to be there for you through every single up and down. But, what do you do when what you believe to be a lifetime friend seems absent or out of reach for some very important / difficult / big events or experiences or even seasons in your life? That I don't know...

Maybe I am not meant to know the answer, though. During those times when I feel so disconnected from my friends and / or loved ones, perhaps the Lord is trying to teach me something... to draw me closer to Him... to teach me to truly rely solely on Him. It is a difficult lesson to learn, and I am still struggling with it.

In the midst of chronic pain and suffering, it is often dark and lonely. If it wasn't for God's light shining - sometimes near and sometimes far away - I would be completely lost and swallowed in the darkness of pain, suffering, depression, anxiety...

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." - Psalm 119:105