Ecclesiastes is probably not high on your list of favorite books of the Bible, but the words that start chapter three likely still sound familiar, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” We have just celebrated the conclusion of one season and the start of another. No, not winter and spring—Lent and Easter. God reigns over the meteorological seasons and appointed fasts, feasts, and holidays for his people to remember and mark off the year. He created the sun, moon, and stars to serve such weekly and annual rhythms (Genesis 1:14).

This is why one writer commented recently, “Whoever owns the calendar and our annual observances owns the narrative and imagination of a people.” Our calendar, with its milestones and anniversaries, shapes our “social imaginary,” the way in which we envision the world around us and our place in it.

This relates specifically to our family as we come up on the eight month mark since Selah’s accident. And as we come hurtling by that timestamp, we have had time to reflect on other key milestones that indicate the turning of this initial season of our lives post-accident. We intend for this to be our last update shared here as we now move forward to the next chapter of this story.

There are two key indicators, two sign posts the season has changed. The first is that Selah has completed her initial occupational therapy. The goals we had coupled with the observations and recommendations of the therapist have been met. Selah is functioning wonderfully to the degree that she is hardly hindered by anything that comes across her in a day. She learned some skills, strategies, and confidence over the course of therapy, and perhaps may need to revisit the clinic again as she grows and gets older, meeting new obstacles. She also has been fitted for her monkey-bar-swinging prosthesis and uses it like a joyful champ.

The other sign post is our recent holiday (in the British sense of the word). Through the generosity of kind friends and organizations, we were able to go on a family trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands. The idea of the trip had its origins in the hospital. We were talking with Selah about planning a fun trip to have something to look forward to during the ensuing hard months. She was eager to go to a national park since she got a free park pass for life with a qualifying disability. She also wanted to swim with sea turtles. So where can you do those two things? St John, U.S. Virgin Islands. It was a great trip where we successfully swam with sea turtles. We even saw one with a “lucky fin”—a reference to the underdeveloped fin of the character Nemo in Pixar’s Finding Nemo. There actually is an organization called The Lucky Fin Project for children with upper limb differences that has an annual event in Troy, MI, that we are planning to attend this summer.

So, as we see this season come to close, we do so in acknowledgment of our God who owns the calendar and our annual observances. He ordains the seasons of life, both the meteorological and experiences we walk through. We took time one evening on St John as a family to reflect on how God has helped us through this season. Perhaps that will be an annual observance for us as a family for every August 6 moving forward. 

We would never have looked for or asked for what has transpired, but we are forever grateful for his grace and mercy that has been sufficient to see us through this far. And because of Easter, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we are ever confident he will continue to supply the needed grace and mercy for each season to come. Thank you for walking with us through this season, for praying with us. May you find God in Christ to be your joy and hope in each season of your life.