Journey: The Seasons of Life

By Paula Findley

Every stage that we pass through in life has some bearing on the next, and what we do in one stage affects all other stages.

Paula Findley highlights how we all have a limited time to live and why what we decide to do with our time is so important.

To live a fulfilled life, we must pay attention to how we live and our plans for the future. In this book, find out how to:

• discover the purpose you were meant to serve in life;

• determine where you are in life’s journey;

• prepare for the next seasons of life;

• live a better, more fulfilling life no matter your age.

The author also shares some of the misfortunes she has overcome to remind people that there’s always a way to move forward in your journey.

We start experiencing seasons from the day we are born until we die – and it’s up to you to liv

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973689249

Paula Findley

Paula Findley is a wife and mother of two children and also a high school teacher. Born and raised in a rural community in Jamaica, she was saved at age fourteen and has been on the Christian journey for twenty-five years. She has served in many areas in the church and strongly believes that we are nothing without God.

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Copyright © 2020 Paula Findley.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Interior Image Credit: Richroy Bent, Diana Harris, Marcia Dixon, Richard Graham (son), Nikeisha Powell, Ralston Murray.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, by Biblica, Inc. TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8925-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8926-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-8924-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020906946

WestBow Press rev. date: 4/21/2020

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

To all those individuals who have contributed in some way to the production of this book and its success, I thank you.

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my two children, Richard and Gabrielle. At this point, you are in the spring of your lives. I want you to understand the different seasons you have to go through in life and do what is expected of you for each season. My dear children, I wish for you a fulfilled life and all the peace and happiness that come with it. In all you do, remember God, your creator. He will see you through every difficult moment while on this journey.

he world of books is the most remarkable creation of man;

nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations

perish; civilizations grow old and die out. After an era of darkness,

new races build others; but in the world of books are volumes

that live on still as young and fresh as the day they were written,

still telling men’s hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead.

—Clarence Day

CONTENTS

Acknowledgment

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1    There Is a Season

Chapter 2    The Spring of Life

•   Spring Is about You

•   Finding Your Identity

•   Developing Self-Confidence

•   Determining Your Sexual Orientation and Dealing with Abuse

•   Zooming in on the Teenage Years

•   Caring for the Seed

•   Understanding the Importance of Earning Things and Valuing Money

•   Making Plans for Your Tomorrow

•   Celebrating Me

•   The End of This Season

Chapter 3    The Summer of Life

•   Introduction

•   Single Parenting

•   Migrating Parents

•   In the Midst of Toiling, Take Care of Yourself

•   Wrestling with Sickness and Death

•   Marriage and Divorce

•   Natural Disasters and Unexpected Events

•   Disappointing Children

•   Children of Infidelity

•   The Dependency Syndrome

•   Retirement Is Close By; Have a Plan

•   The End of This Season

•   My Story

Chapter 4    Autumn: The Slowing-Down Period

•   Retirement Issues

•   Physical Changes during Retirement

•   Expectations for This Season

•   The Will

•   The Risks of Retirement

•   What To Do in Retirement

•   The End of This Season

•   My Story

Chapter 5    The Winter Season

•   Introduction

•   Physical Changes

•   Time of Reflection

•   Food for the Retirement Journey

•   How To Live Longer

Chapter 6    Soul Search

Chapter 7    Humans Were Never Promised an Easy Journey

Conclusion

References

Other Book

INTRODUCTION

His name is Man. So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him: male and female he created them. Man is a human who was placed on earth for a purpose. He came here naked and confused, but through nature, an appreciation for life was developed. Nature is the force that propels man every day. It is everything that was made by God and that which ruled over earth. However, nature cannot be tamed. Sometimes, she is warm and friendly, and other times, she is cold and harsh. But man has to live with nature, whether he likes it or not.

Man is a very complex and dynamic being. Through this complexity and versatility, he removes barriers to unfold mysteries of earth. Earth is the place where he lives. She is the mother of all. However, she is so diverse that it will take man a lifetime to fully comprehend her mysteries. As soon as he uncovers one mystery, he sets out again to unravel more while doing so in the daunting faces of uncertainty and death. Man has total control over all creatures that share this amazing place with him. Man knows no boundaries in discovering his world. However, he is stoppable by death, his greatest enemy.

Man surrenders to God, his creator, the one who guides him in his daily walk and provides for his many needs. Many times, man fails to recognize his purpose, and as such, he finds himself just merely existing in a world that he has some amount of power to dominate rather than living a purposeful life. What this means is that he gets up and does the same things every day, like a ritual. Not that he minds doing them, but do they, by themselves, make him really happy? Do they make him feel like he is living a life of purpose? Or is he just doing these rituals to survive?

Sometimes, man is so busy just going on and on with his daily routine, without stopping to observe what is happening around him. He often forgets how beautiful spring looks or that the leaves start to change colour, sending a message that winter is near. Did he even realize his physical body is changing, and there are gray hairs on his head while the wrinkles start coming in?

Man has a family: they are called woman and children. They are his greatest joy and support on earth, but sometimes, he messes up. He fails to spend quality time with them, and as such, the adversary comes in and ruins his family life. Man gets so busy that he often forgets to take care of himself. He forgets that he was placed on earth for a purpose, and his time is not everlasting because he is mortal.

Gone are the days when man sat and had conversations with others; met with friends and families and talked about old times; talked about new things that were happening, their achievements, and disappointments; or just merely caught up. When was the last time he did something that he really liked? Or when was the last time he treated himself? How about that vacation he has been promising himself for a long time? Is he trying to live a fulfilled life while here on earth or does he just exist, fighting each day against the inevitable? He doesn’t do these things anymore because he is too busy trying to conquer that which is unimaginable; it is called destiny.

Man never gets younger, so as he gets older in this life, he needs to understand that he is human, and they don’t live for very long, yet plans must be made for each stage he goes through. For every stage he passes, it has some bearing on the next. In other words, what he did in one stage of his life affects all the other stages.

Life is a journey. It is one that doesn’t just happen and gone; it takes years for man. God has assigned to man three score and ten years, which makes it seventy years. Some live beyond that, while others die before that age. What man does with his years is very important. If he is desirous of living a fulfilled life, then he has to pay attention to how he lives his life and the plans he needs to make. Man doesn’t want to grow old and be left in the cold. Therefore, he shouldn’t just care about existing or competing with nature. He was placed here for a purpose, but he has only one life, and as such, he should make sure he enjoys this life while fulfilling his purpose on this journey.

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CHAPTER 1

There Is a Season

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every

purpose under the heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV)

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I sat on my veranda one spring afternoon, watching the lazy moon slowly climb over the horizon with the dark gray, starless sky staring down on me. A cool breeze covered my body like a blanket, and a thought suddenly occurred to me. I wondered what constituted a fulfilling life.

We wake up each day and, like a ritual, get dressed, have breakfast, and complete some tasks before leaving our homes to work, school, or a place of interest. Sometimes, the days go quickly; other times, it’s as if it’s never going to end. Then it’s time to go home again—home to our families, friends, pets, or home to a lonely life.

The same thing day after day, month after month, and year after year. Before you even realize it, you become old, and that’s when you slow down and begin reflecting. Did I have a fulfilling life? one may wonder. But it is too late to change the past, to roll back the years, to wonder what went wrong or what was good about life—a life that some regret and while others are proud of.

The Bible tells us that there is a season for everything and a time for every purpose under heaven. Does this mean that man has a season? Does it also mean that his purpose has a time? When we think of crops, we realize they have a season. Most crops, such as corn and barley, are planted at specific times during the year. Some fruits also have seasons. An apple tree does not bear fruit all year round, and neither does a mango tree. Animals have seasons too. One season, they are mating,