Spiritually Defining Seasons

By Neisha Merrell

It has been said that during trials and heartache, when you cry out in prayer for comfort, sometimes, you just need "someone with skin on." This short weekend read is full of skin--real people and examples that will help you find hope and strength.

It is organized in seasons rather than chapters to allow you to choose what seasons fit perfectly into your life or the freedom to move past the unapplicable. Each season is summarized by one word describing the action powerful enough to draw you toward faith and away from doubt--a word to remind you that God keeps His promises. He doesn't just show up in your life when you cry out to Him; He is always there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685269715

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Preface

Season 1: The Waiting Place: Listen

Season 2: The Beauty in Diversity: Accept

Season 3: Joys and Heartaches of Parenting: Remember

Season 4: Joy in the Journey: Choose

Season 5: Education—The Lifelong Process: Persist

Season 6: When Tragedy Strikes!: Survive

Season 7: When 8 Is Enough: Change

Season 8: Organization: Harmonize

Season 9: Loving the Season: Seek

Season 10: Not Forgotten: Covenant

Finishing Touches

Appendix

References

About the Author

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Spiritually Defining Seasons

Neisha Merrell

ISBN 978-1-68526-970-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68526-972-2 (Hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-68526-971-5 (Digital)

Copyright © 2022 Neisha Merrell

All rights reserved

First Edition

Edited by

Jennifer Richardson and Colston Merrell

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Preface

As you read these pages, feel free to start where you want, laugh out loud, cry, and come to realize what really matters to you. The stories and thoughts are experiences from my life and the lives of those I love. I hope that my honesty allows you to be who you are; after all, in the words of someone I admire, It is too hard to be anyone else!¹

This collection of thoughts and memories that brought me closer to Christ began years ago when our twins still shared a bedroom. Now, when the kids are all at home, those same tiny feet that used to get lost inside their blankets extend over the edges of their beds. It has taken nearly a lifetime of raising kids for me to see the beginning from the end, and I am not quite there yet; I am still learning and growing with all the changing seasons in my life, searching with each new phase to find Him. I no longer question if God is with me; I confidently move forward on my quest until He is found!

I never imagined I would write a book. Even as I sit here and type, I amuse myself. But in life, when my own agenda is interrupted with a flash of foreign thought, I have learned to act. I recognize that each of you reading this book will have a different explanation for those flashes. You might believe them to be the power of mind and body coming together or some kind of communication between the universe and my subconscious. I just call them inspiration. Therefore, in an effort to preserve those persistent flashes, I type. The more I act, the more He speaks.

These pages will take you on an expedition that I have organized in seasons rather than chapters. Some may fit perfectly into your life. Others you may want to skip altogether or read ahead to better prepare for a season you have not yet experienced. I have also carefully chosen a word for each season—the action that helped propel me forward from one series of events into the next.

Along the way, I came to realize what I hope you find in these pages: God keeps His promises. He doesn't just show up in our lives when we cry out to Him; He is always there.

May you enjoy the journey and allow it to draw you closer to Christ.

Season 1

The Waiting Place: Listen

Listen

The most powerful warriors are patience and time.

—Leo Tolstoy

My classmates and I sat on the grass outside the Dental Hygiene building at Northern Arizona University. Spring in Flagstaff was brisk and new. Graduation was approaching, and a small group of us surrounded our professor as she read Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. I loved the book; it was full of hope and somehow captured all I was feeling in that moment of accomplishment. But right in the middle, without warning, I began to feel nervous as she read about the Waiting Place. The next few pages contained painful illustrations of people in lines with their lives on hold, waiting on weather, transportation, family, gifts, good hair days, and phone calls that might never come—unproductive waiting.

Then her voice picked up once more, and we were off to new places.

I loved being in motion, accomplishing and becoming, not waiting; that was not the place for me. It required patience—a skill I did not have or care to develop. I graduated from college and did not give the Waiting Place another thought until years later when I found myself there, on those pages, discovering that Dr. Seuss was wrong. Waiting is not just a place but a long season of life that can feel more like a permanent destination. It has taken nearly fifteen years of perspective to recognize the learning and growth that came from the Waiting Place.

The phone rang, and his voice was different; he spoke in a calm, hushed tone. The nurses had convinced him that he had to call. She's going to find out anyway, they said. His accident was all over the news. My husband had just experienced a life-threatening ordeal, but somehow, he was still trying to reassure me.

Good morning, babe, did I wake you? I'm sure you are up getting the kids ready, and I really don't want to be a bother, but I was just calling to see if you could come get me?

My mind rushed off—from where, wasn't he at work, and would the kids be okay if I left them alone for a bit?

He caught my delay and started in again, It's just that I am at the hospital, but I am great; nothing is wrong. I just don't have a car here, and well, would you mind coming?

What was he talking about? He had been out working that night like hundreds of nights before; how did he end up at the hospital? When I arrived, he'd been given stitches and was ready to come home. As if stopping the