Seasons Change. Jesus Doesn’t. // Emily Jensen on Ecclesiastes 3:1

What do we do when a season is ending?

This week, Natalie talks with Emily Jensen about Ecclesiastes 3:1, big life changes, and trusting God when something familiar comes to a close. Emily shares about ending Risen Motherhood, learning to rest, and remembering that while seasons change, Jesus never does.

This Month's Memory Verse:
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens."
📖 Ecclesiastes 3:1

Memorize Scripture with Us:
Discover the easy button for Scripture memory through Dwell Differently's resources - https://dwelldifferently.com/

Resources from Today's Episode:
Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin
All of Me by Cheryl Marshall

Transcript

0:00:00 - (Natalie Abbott): Foreign.

0:00:05 - (Emily Jensen): Guys.

0:00:05 - (Natalie Abbott): Welcome back to the Dwell Differently podcast. I'm Natalie Abbott and today we are talking about our verse from Ecclesiastes 3. 1. We're talking about the seasons of our lives and the God who is in control of all those seasons. Our verse that we're memorizing is, there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.

0:00:26 - (Emily Jensen): What a beautiful truth.

0:00:28 - (Natalie Abbott): And here with me today to talk about it is Emily Jensen. Welcome, Emily.

0:00:32 - (Emily Jensen): Oh, thank you so much for having me. It's a delight to be here. Yeah.

0:00:36 - (Natalie Abbott): Okay, so I have ulterior motives, like personally of having you on the show because I'm like, okay, you just had like a major life shift in the last year about a year ago, and just thinking about these seasons and things changing, and at Dwell, we have some different things that are changing and, and in flux. And so I'm like, oh, I would love to pick your brain in here about what it is to like, move from one season to another season, to recognize, like, this is a time for that to change, like something needs to change here and to trust God in those changing seasons. So that's kind of my hope here today. And for those of you listening that hopefully if you're in a season where you're like, man, either A, I really want things to change, or B, maybe things need to change, like having that, or maybe you need to be content with the season that you're in, all of those things. As we're thinking about this verse from Ecclesiastes and the seasons of our life, of our lives, those are the things that I'd love to just kind of dive in with you today, Emily, and talk about.

0:01:41 - (Natalie Abbott): So, but before we, like dive in, maybe some people are unfamiliar with the big season shift that you recently had as of like almost the same time last year. Can you tell us a little bit about that backstory in the ministry that you started with your sister in law, Laura, like 11 years ago?

0:02:01 - (Emily Jensen): Yeah, of course. Yeah. So as you mentioned, A little over 10 years ago, my sister in law, Laura Whiffler and I started a podcast called Risen Motherhood. We were both moms of young kids, babies and toddlers, and we had been all of these discussions with one another about kind of how to honor the Lord in our choices, except we weren't necessarily talking like big philosophical parenting choices. We were like, well, what about diapering and what about feeding and sleep training?

0:02:32 - (Emily Jensen): All the things you're like, like, if God has a right way, like, I want to do the right way and so we were just having all these discussions about how could we live out the gospel and have our. Our faith and our knowledge of scripture really intersect with the very nitty gritty reality of daily life and motherhood. And we're like, well, we're just going to air five episodes of this. We'll just see how it goes.

0:02:56 - (Emily Jensen): And it turned into a thing. It turned into a whole thing. Yeah, Totally unexpected. We did not have a master plan. We were not like, oh, let's start a nonprofit, and like, have all these team members know we were both stay at home moms. And so anyways, it was just something that, that grew. And we just kind of kept responding to the Lord and saying, okay, yes, Lord, we'll do a book. Okay, yes, Lord, we'll. We'll get team members because we cannot do this by ourselves anymore.

0:03:23 - (Emily Jensen): And anyways, a decade went by, and by the end, we. We were a team of eight with a board of directors. We're reaching just hundreds of thousands of women across the globe, hopefully with gospel Hope for Moms. We published a lot of books, but that's kind of the backstory again. A podcast, articles, all the things. But we really sensed, you know, it was several years ago now, but Laura and I just kind of were starting to sense that, hey, maybe this isn't forever. Maybe this is just for a season.

0:03:57 - (Emily Jensen): And so we began to plan for what it was going to look like for us to bring the ministry to a close and go across that finish line. Well, and be able to look back over that decade and say, okay, we. We feel like we stewarded and did all that the Lord asked us to do. And, and we're just getting excited about what God might have for us next. So that's, that's a little bit of the backstory. We can get into whatever you want to get into.

0:04:26 - (Natalie Abbott): Well, I, I think maybe like, in thinking about this idea, you know, that even this verse says there's a time for everything in a season, for every activity under heaven. I think sometimes when we think about our lives, it's almost hard for us to, like, make that shift into a new season and say, okay, the time for this season is this time, and now we're entering a new season or a new. A time for a new kind of activity that God has for us.

0:04:58 - (Natalie Abbott): And I would say, like, maybe can you address that, that. That shift from one season to the next? And, and I know even, like, so with Dwell, we're ending our membership, we're continuing our podcast, and we're doing lots of other fun things, but the membership itself, like the. We're going to ship you a widget in the mail every, you know, month, forever. Like, we've been doing it for nine years, and we're like, gosh, we don't want to send out widgets anymore. It's really hard to run a business in that way.

0:05:30 - (Natalie Abbott): We still love the ministry component of things, but when we made that decision, we had a lot of people who were like, what? You can't stop doing this? You know, or other people who are like, oh, we'll buy it from you. We'll, you know, we'll do it. We'll do it. And just kind of making that decision of like. Like, how do you discern that shift? Even when maybe some people are like, we want risen motherhood to be forever.

0:05:55 - (Natalie Abbott): We don't want that to. To ever be done. And you're like, ah, we feel like the Lord is leading. Like, how do you. How did you discern?

0:06:03 - (Emily Jensen): Yeah, a lot there. You know, the reality thing is that everything in life changes. You know, technology changes, culture shifts, Even the things that people need, almost like spiritually, kind of what they're. They're most longing for. It's always Jesus. But, you know, there's elements of that that sort of seem to ebb and flow and come to the forefront and go into the background. There's, you know, circumstances in your private personal life that change.

0:06:36 - (Emily Jensen): There are different skills that you develop at different times. Financial resources or resources of time and energy and attention vary. The only thing that is constant, the only person that is constant is Jesus. Right? He is the same yesterday and today and forevermore. And we know that his Word will last forever. And so he is a timeless truth, and his Word is a timeless truth, and his people will live and be together forever. But, like, everything else is kind of up for grabs.

0:07:11 - (Natalie Abbott): Yeah. Yeah.

0:07:11 - (Emily Jensen): And that can make us uncomfortable when we want to have this sense of, you know, control and stability. Those are good human desires. Like, we need comfort and control and stability to be able to go about our daily lives and not, you know, in a total state of, you know, dysregulated nervous system mess. But at the same time, we have to realize that those things ultimately, you know, if they find their ultimate rest and fulfillment in Jesus. Right? Like our ultimate comfort, our ultimate stability, the one who is truly in control is the Lord. It's not us. And we actually cannot count on the things of this world to stay the same. We can't count on our favorite ministry to stay in place. We can't count on our favorite Bible teacher to keep teaching the Bible for years and years and keep making Bible studies or, you know, for our church to continue on in a certain way. Like, I think as believers we have to be open handed with all of those other things. And so when it comes to, I think, a shift in our own lives, it's really important to have people around you who can help, sort of, I guess, affirm. Hey, are you walking down a path of wisdom with this decision or a path of foolishness? You know, what are your motives in making this decision?

0:08:32 - (Emily Jensen): What are your ultimate goals in making this decision? What's your posture of heart towards the Lord? And sometimes like we can think we have those things straight in our mind, but there is, you know, value in an abundance of counselors, whether, you know, that's your spouse or that's the elders of your church or that's wise, godly mentors that you have around you. You know, I know at Risen Motherhood, like we had a board of directors, like that helped us make this decision and walk through this with us and you know, so those things aren't made in a vacuum. I know the same is true for you guys. You just wake up one day and willy nilly go, oh, I think we'll stop doing this thing that everyone loves. No, there's a, there's time, there's thought, there's prayer. And yeah, I think like leaders of, of organizations and businesses and ministry are often, you know, they want to give people not just what they want, but what they need.

0:09:24 - (Emily Jensen): And sometimes like people don't always know what they need, you know, and, and, or what all of the things are going on in the background that lead someone to say, you know, actually I think that this is why stewardship and it may not look exactly the way you think because there's so many factors that you can't see. And so the people who are closest to that decision, you know, with the leading of the Lord, need to make those decisions. You know, that's, it's really tough though.

0:09:55 - (Natalie Abbott): Yeah, I love what you said about kind of making decisions with your Christian community and just having that affirmation. You know, I think sometimes. My husband has been a pastor now for over 20 years and sometimes people will decide to leave the church, but they are already gone. You know, they never walked through the process to say, you know, this particular thing is something that is bothering me or I have this relationship problem.

0:10:26 - (Natalie Abbott): And instead of inviting people into that, they sort of make a decision and then they cut Ties and they go, you know, and so I guess that that kind of brings up in my mind just the, like, what you were talking about, the healthy recognition of it's maybe time for a change and doing that in community. Is there any other thing that you feel like when you were making that decision or when you make decisions, you know, that you're like, okay, where is God leading me in this season now, besides community, that you would encourage people to, like, really practice as they're making a big decision?

0:11:05 - (Emily Jensen): Maybe, yeah, I think if you can. And very few decisions are, like, super urgent and need to be decided by this afternoon. But, you know, take a time and a season for prayer and say, hey, could. Can we pray about this for two weeks, two months, two years? You know, like, there may be. The greater the decision, the greater the impact, the bigger the ripple effect. Ideally, maybe the longer that you take to make that decision, if possible.

0:11:34 - (Emily Jensen): And I also think it's important to think about that. My pastor has this thing called the five C's of calling. And, you know, we are called to our walk with Christ. We're coming to see if I can get them right, our core relationships, which is like our immediate family, our church family, our career, even if you don't technically work for a paycheck, but whatever kind of you do is like your vocation and then a community that you live in.

0:12:03 - (Emily Jensen): And so I think that there's something about recognizing when something about those five Cs has shifted or is in the midst of shifting, just like circumstantially, and it has ripple effects, so to say, okay, I'm not going to let this commitment I made to, let's say, a volunteer opportunity five years ago, be the controlling factor of all the things, all the decisions I make in my five Cs of calling.

0:12:32 - (Emily Jensen): And so sometimes I think there is this sense of obligation we have to a decision that we made one time, and we feel like, well, because faithfulness looks like I continue doing that thing indefinitely for the rest of my life. And if I ever walk away from that, I'm not being faithful. And I was saying, oh, faithfulness is walking in obedience to Christ, living with the fruit of the Spirit according to his truths in whatever situation or circumstance you're in.

0:13:02 - (Emily Jensen): And it's not clear in Scripture that you have to stay in that volunteer opportunity forever. It is clear in Scripture that you have to operate in whatever that spirit is with love, joy, peace, patience, you know, all those different things. And so, yeah, if you're gonna. If you're Gonna leave it. There's a way to do it. And yes, there are times when we persevere, but sometimes I think we put up these, these decisions, these commitments that we make, whether it is in our career or it isn't our ministry as like, oh, I said yes this one time. And now there's all these other things about what God has called us to do that we can't really walk in or operate in because we're just so committed to this one thing.

0:13:41 - (Natalie Abbott): Yeah, no, I love that because I think. I think, you know, as holistic people, you know, we have to be able to recognize, like, if there's something in my family, for instance, that shifted, like, maybe, you know, somebody has an illness and I've got to be. I've got to be taking care of my parent who lives in town with me, or I've got, you know, my kids are going through a more difficult season. Like, that's going to affect my ability to, you know, in all those other areas.

0:14:11 - (Natalie Abbott): Like, it's shifting my, my time, even in my priorities and all of those things. Like, I think that's a really great, super helpful way of thinking about ourselves. Because you're right. I think sometimes we get stuck in this. Like, I said I was going to do this. I want to be a person who honors Jesus. So I am forever now a Sunday school teacher until I die.

0:14:30 - (Emily Jensen): Yeah, whatever.

0:14:32 - (Natalie Abbott): The thing is, and, and not that that faithfulness isn't a good thing. It is a good thing and you don't want to just, like, willy nilly, hop around. But yeah, I do love that idea of, like, faithfulness in all of those areas and how they interplay with one another. And not everybody, you know, sees the fullness of Emily Jensen and what's going on in her life. And all of, you know, like, I think it's easy for us to be like, oh, why did she stop teaching Sunday school? Now we have to find a new Sunday school teacher, you know, but, yeah, to have that, that grace, I think, for ourselves and for other people when we see, you know, some kind of a big shift happening.

0:15:11 - (Natalie Abbott): Okay, so here's a question for you, Emily. When you think about shifting seasons in your own life or making those decisions, do you. Are you, like, comfortable with that? Is it harder for you to make those changes easy?

0:15:25 - (Emily Jensen): I am so weird. I love new stuff and I love change.

0:15:29 - (Natalie Abbott): Yes.

0:15:30 - (Emily Jensen): So I love that.

0:15:31 - (Natalie Abbott): I feel.

0:15:32 - (Emily Jensen): I feel kind of like, ooh. I know that there's a lot of people that are very uncomfortable with change. I would say, like, My husband and I are both, you know, there's people who are more past looking, people that are really good at being present and people that love thinking about the future. And both me and I are love thinking about the future. That has incredible benefits and it has really bad things too.

0:15:56 - (Emily Jensen): So I think I have to watch myself because I tend to like, I like new projects, I like starting new things, I like the novelty. And I don't get super sentimental about the end of a season. I'm like, cool, what's up? What's in the next season? I can't wait to see what it's going to be. And I feel very hopeful and optimistic about the future and very hopeful and optimistic about what God's going to do and what's going to be exciting.

0:16:25 - (Emily Jensen): So I often have to really temper that, both to be considerate of people who are more sentimental and do have a very healthy and right view of like appreciating what God has done and appreciating the good things that are in the season's past. But also, yeah, not, not sort of living for the next season, but also being willing to be okay when there's no change and be okay when there's no novelty and there's no like new exciting thing around the corner and say, no, it's okay, I can stay in. This is the thing that's sort of hard for me, if anything, but so funny. Isn't that weird for the board?

0:17:05 - (Natalie Abbott): Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I. So is it hard for you on that question? Yeah, I would say I am a very slow to make a decision person, but once the decision is made, I'm all in. So it's like I is like I am. It's gonna take me a long time. I remember we, my husband and I, we moved and we had like, he's a pastor and it was this church that we were interviewing with and he was like instantaneous. Like, this is the right. He knew before we went out to visit, but we went out to visit and he is like, I think this is what the Lord has for us. And if he had like said today, you have to tell me, I would have said, yes, I agree with you.

0:17:48 - (Natalie Abbott): But I'm like, how long do I have to decide? You know? And he's like, two weeks. Can we tell them in two weeks? And I'm like, oh, that feels like not enough time. But yes. So it's like, but once I got to that place where I'm like, okay, yes, I'm full in. But it's like, I want to really, like, go through all. I want to think about it, I want to pray about it, I want to ask people about it. You know what I mean? Like, I just want, I want to dig all the way in and be like, is this the right choice, Lord? Is this what you have? And then when I. When he's like, yes, I'm like, I'm in.

0:18:19 - (Natalie Abbott): Okay, what's next? I love that. So, yeah, I think it's the decision making process for me that's hard. But the change component, I grew up moving a lot when I was a kid. And so the change component I think is something that feels normalish to me in a way that other people who are like, I grew. I lived in the same house my whole life and now I live in this house and I will live here forever until I die.

0:18:41 - (Natalie Abbott): You know, I'm like, that's probably not me. Yeah. So I feel that. I feel that we all know spending time in God's Word matters, but sometimes it's hard to know where to start. Busy schedules, frustrations, or not knowing how to study the Bible can make it hard to stay consistent. That's why so many women have loved Women of the word. With over 250,000 copies sold, this book offers a simple, practical approach to studying Scripture that helps train your mind and transform your heart.

0:19:13 - (Natalie Abbott): So if you're longing to grow in your understanding of God's Word but need a little help to know where to begin, this is a resource worth picking up. I've read it myself. It's awesome. And you can find Women of the Word wherever books are sold or visit Crossway.orgWomenOfTheWordBook to get 30% off with a free Crossway plus account or just follow the link in our show notes. You love Jesus. You want to honor Him.

0:19:40 - (Natalie Abbott): But in a world pulling you 100 different directions, what does it actually look like to live wholeheartedly for God? Well, let me tell you about all of Me. It's a thoughtful study of Romans 12:1 2, some of my absolute favorite verses in Scripture. And in it, Bible teacher Cheryl Marshall explores what it means to worship God with every part of your life, not just on Sundays, but in your everyday moments too.

0:20:03 - (Natalie Abbott): With biblical teaching and stories of women who faithfully follow God throughout history, this resource is a beautiful companion whether you're studying it on your own, with a friend, or in a small group. You can use the code worship for 30% off@thegoodbook.com and download your free study guide today or just follow the link in our show notes. Okay, so thinking about this season that you're in right now, have you been able to hold yourself back a little bit and maybe rest from the busyness of Risen Motherhood and all the things that it took to, like, finally shut that down and, you know, because I know that those kinds of things are hard.

0:20:46 - (Emily Jensen): Those are hard to do.

0:20:47 - (Natalie Abbott): Do you feel like you've maybe. Are you still in a season of rest? Have you been able to rest? Or are you just, like, you've already got your feet on the pavement and you're running?

0:20:56 - (Emily Jensen): Yeah, that's a good question. I think that it definitely. For the first three or four months after Risen Motherhood closed, I had, like, nothing going on outside of family.

0:21:08 - (Natalie Abbott): What is happening?

0:21:09 - (Emily Jensen): Yeah. And it's funny because at first, you know, the strange thing about something like bringing a ministry to a close is we actually had to, like, do more before it was done. Oh, yeah. We were, like, ramping up, and it literally felt like kind of like the end of a race where you're just, like, dead tired, but you're like, nope, gotta keep going. Gotta keep going. Point in fact, if you have anything left in the tank, now's the time to give it, you know? And so I really felt like we finished well, but I collapsed across the finish line.

0:21:40 - (Emily Jensen): And I. I think the month of, like, May last year and June, I had nothing scheduled. We went on some trips as a family, and I thought I wanted nothing more than to just, like, be bored and just to have nothing on my calendar. Nothing I had to do. And really quick, I was like, mm, I don't like this. So it was a good. It was actually good for me. And I realized, like, in that final season of Risen Motherhood, I was really kind of idolizing. Like, this time I was, I'm gonna get this time to myself and, like, the rest that I've been wanting for a decade, and it's gonna come and I'm gonna love it.

0:22:14 - (Emily Jensen): And I did. But it. It really reminded me of, like, no, I. I also have a purpose, and I have gift, skills, and abilities. And, Lord, I want to use this for your glory, but I want to do it in a way that aligns right with those five Cs of, like, my. My calling in this period of life that aligns with something that works really well with my family life, something that makes sense in the context of my church community.

0:22:40 - (Emily Jensen): And so I feel like when the Lord started bringing new opportunities and new things to the table, I just had a lot more flexibility and. And this is Kind of getting into the nitty gritty of, of business administrator and all the things. But like, you, you know this, like, whenever you're part of a ministry that's ongoing and people are like, every week, like, where's, where's the podcast?

0:23:02 - (Natalie Abbott): Like, where's the deadline? Deadline?

0:23:06 - (Emily Jensen): And so there is a sense in which it's just continuous and ongoing. And what I'm doing right now is more project by project based. And so even though I do have things on the calendar and I have stuff I need to do, there's often, like, real clear definitions around the amount of time that that's going to take and when it's over. And then there's a reassessment of, like, okay, do I want to take another speaking thing or do I want to, you know, continue doing this thing for my church? And, and so that has been for us a little bit better that I've had a more full autonomy over my time. And the way that I manage that, even, like, while my kids are at school, school. And I recently, I went back to school a month, two months ago.

0:23:49 - (Natalie Abbott): Yeah.

0:23:50 - (Emily Jensen): And I, I started seminary. And, you know, even that has been really interesting. And it's, it's provided a new type of pressure, but also, like, I've been able to, like, manage how I fit that into our lives and time. And so I don't know if that answers your question, but I, I think that there is definitely a rest, but also like a renewed vision for God's call on my life and excitement and, and, you know, even like a greater capacity, I think, to be able to handle some of that stuff.

0:24:26 - (Natalie Abbott): It kind of reminds me of, you know, when Jesus says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And then he says, take my yoke upon, upon you. And you're like, what? Wait, I thought you were giving me rest, but you're giving me a yoke? Like, there is this sense though, that, like, we're created also for work. And so there's a. There is a right way of restful working and acknowledging, like, okay, here's my limitations, here's my calling for this season and now in this new season, to be able to reassess and be like, okay, well, what. How does work fit in in this season? What does it look like?

0:25:04 - (Natalie Abbott): And I love that idea that you have that you're regularly reassessing, like, okay, what. What's going to be the right thing right now? I just think that's a really beautiful way of thinking about Your life and, and, and what's, you know, what's going on in this season and being able to sort of honor all of those five things, you know, your community and your church and your relationship with Christ and your family.

0:25:34 - (Natalie Abbott): And what was the other one?

0:25:35 - (Emily Jensen): I feel like there was one more. Yeah, career. Yeah, like your career. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:25:41 - (Natalie Abbott): I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna steal that. I love that.

0:25:43 - (Emily Jensen): Yeah, please. I stole that from my pastor.

0:25:46 - (Natalie Abbott): Smart guy.

0:25:47 - (Emily Jensen): I know. So good.

0:25:49 - (Natalie Abbott): So we just got like a little bit long. Like just a little bit longer. And so I guess one of the things that, that you talked about that I'd love to dig a little deeper in is that like, past season, present season, future season, and you're like a future season kind of person. So how have you, like, maybe you haven't thought about it this way, but like, when you think about your present season, do you have any strategies to help you sort of be satisfied in that season?

0:26:21 - (Natalie Abbott): Um, and I think also sometimes we kind of look at other people and we're like, it's not even just like I'm dissatisfied because of my past season or where I want to be in the future, but it's like, but actually I, I want to be living that person's right now instead of my right now. You know what I mean? So any good, like, tips or strategies that you're like, when I feel dissatisfied,

0:26:42 - (Emily Jensen): this helps me totally. Yeah, that. That is really hard. I certainly still struggle with that even. It's like a future looking person, you know? Cause I'm, I'm always thinking about, oh, how can I get into that season then if I'm not in that season? Um, I think that one thing I try to remember is that my future seasons, as general wisdom, are often a result of what we planted in this season. And so if I want a certain, hey, I, I want a certain type of relationship with my adult kids, I'm like, well, then what am I doing right now to cultivate that relationship? Because I don't think we'll just wake up one day when they're 23, 24, 25, whatever, and be super, super close. So if that, if I'm seeing families that are in that season where they've got, you know, kids that just graduated from college and they're like going on these fun trips and they all get along and like, that's what my heart is longing for. What do I have to plant right now in order to get that then?

0:27:50 - (Emily Jensen): So I think there's things like that that you go, okay, is there something that's a good longing that I have? I don't wait until later and think that those things magically appear. There's. There's habits, there's practices, there's priorities that lead you down a path towards those things generally. Again, like the Lord. The Lord does what the Lord does. And sometimes, you know, like, we think we're headed a direction, and he totally changes that. But.

0:28:17 - (Natalie Abbott): Right.

0:28:17 - (Emily Jensen): Um, that is something I. I try to do, is go, okay, what's the thing I can do today to get me into that place? But I think in terms of just waiting and feeling like we just don't really have what these other people have. You know, one place that we experience that a lot in our lives is we have. Our fourth son has pretty significant disabilities. So he's. He has a rare genetic syndrome. He's totally nonverbal, has a lot of mobility challenges. He has intellectual disabilities.

0:28:50 - (Emily Jensen): So he's, like, lower functioning cognitively. And it. It. He requires a lot of care. So the rest of our kids are now to a point where we could leave them at home a lot and, like, go do stuff. We have friends that are now, you know, going out at night and going and hanging out at fire pit together, leaving their kids at home to go play pickleball together. And we always, always, always have to arrange childcare.

0:29:12 - (Emily Jensen): And it's complicated. And so sometimes I can kind of feel like, man, I feel like we're stuck in toddler season when all of our other friends are moving into, like, teenage season, and they have all this, you know, freedom. And in the midst of that, I just have to remember that the verse that comes to mind is, they don't butcher it. Like, godliness with contentment is great gain. And just to recognize, like, the Lord gave us this.

0:29:41 - (Emily Jensen): He gave us our son. This wasn't an accident. It's not, you know, it's by his hand, and he is working in and through that. And so there is a unique way in which we can glorify him. There's a unique way in which we are being sanctified. There is unique and important work in this responsibility that we have. And so I think it is kind of a. A spiritual discipline almost to even say, thank you, Lord. This is hard for me. But you give and you take away, and this is what you've chosen to give us in this season. So what are the good things about it?

0:30:19 - (Emily Jensen): What are the hard things about it? You know, like, sometimes we have to challenge ourselves to really see what. What is God Doing that is good. That sounds kind of backwards, but, like, my friends aren't getting that I'm getting, you know, as a result of what God's doing. And there's often things we can find, you know, even when we look at different things. Seasons of parenting. Right. There's. No matter what season you're in, there's. There's almost always things that are, like, really special and exciting about that season. And then there's things that are like, I'm not gonna miss this when this is over.

0:30:51 - (Natalie Abbott): Well, I'll happily leave that behind.

0:30:53 - (Emily Jensen): And so I. I have to kind of think about that. Okay. Like, this is where we're at. What are some things that I might look back on and say, that's really special about that circumstance we had in our lives? And what were some of those things that were challenging, but God sustained us through, and I can give thanks for those things.

0:31:14 - (Natalie Abbott): That's really great. I love that verse. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Yeah, definitely. When I think about hard seasons that I'm in or, you know, things that. That God has given me that I'm like, why. Why. Why this? Why us?

0:31:30 - (Emily Jensen): It's.

0:31:31 - (Natalie Abbott): You know, I. I mean, I can remember at one point talking to my kids about a really hard season that we went through as a family and helping. Trying to help them understand, like, that there were good things that God had for us in that season, that there were things that he taught us that we would have never learned about ourselves. And a. In a. A tightness that happened in our family where we just felt more connected than we'd ever felt before because of that hard season.

0:32:00 - (Natalie Abbott): So, yeah, I do think that there's something really beautiful about, like, what you're saying, that even in those seasons where, you know, at. On surface level, we can be like, why this? This is so hard. I wish I were this way. I wish I could go out as my friends and not have to get a babysitter. Whatever that is that you're going through that you. You could be. Be tempted to be jealous, but to be able to say, like, what is God doing? How is he crafting us in ways that only this would do this in our family's life? Only this would be the way that God could achieve these wonderful things that he's doing. That. Yeah, it's. I mean, it's so bizarre. But sometimes those hardest things are the things that are actually.

0:32:41 - (Natalie Abbott): You look back and you're like, but that. That's what God did through that, and it was beautiful.

0:32:45 - (Emily Jensen): Oh, it's so good. And very few things, like, last for a lifetime. You know, I think oftentimes when you're in the midst of a hard season, it feels like it's gonna go on forever.

0:32:57 - (Natalie Abbott): Yeah.

0:32:57 - (Emily Jensen): And it's. It doesn't. You know, it changes somehow. I mean, that's a good thing. It's like only Jesus is unchanging. Everything else seems to come and go and like, so, you know, if you're having a string of bad days, like, you probably won't for. It's not going to go on forever, probably, you know, like, you're gonna have different phases of life or, like a really challenging parenting season, you know, like, we have three boys in middle school right now, and I'm like, that's a lot of middle school boys. At the same time.

0:33:28 - (Natalie Abbott): It's a lot. That's a lot of body od.

0:33:31 - (Emily Jensen): It is. It's a lot. And.

0:33:32 - (Natalie Abbott): And.

0:33:32 - (Emily Jensen): But, you know, my husband and I'll just be like, I believe, though, like, that this. It won't always be like this, right. That someday we're gonna have these. These young men and we're gonna look back and be like, eye roll and laugh and it's not gonna go on forever. And, you know, we. We don't know that for sure. For sure. Because God works and, you know, the way that he works, and we don't always know when those seasons are gonna change, but there's just things in life shift and come and go, and I sometimes think we have to remind ourselves that of, like, whatever this feels like right now, I do have to endure it for a time. But, like, it's probably going to shift at some point.

0:34:10 - (Natalie Abbott): Right? There are times when I'm like, you know what? I can. I can at least do this for this long. I can at least, you know, like. Right. I know that this is only for a season. And it's. And even, like, with our Dwell membership finishing up, it. It does feel like what you were talking about, where it's like that, like, hurry up, hurry up and now stop. You know, and so I. I can relate to, like, I think I'm actually gonna fall across that finish line and flat on my face. You know what I mean? Like, oh, my gosh. Yeah.

0:34:38 - (Natalie Abbott): But at the same time, like, God is the God of this, of this season, too. And I love how you have, throughout this conversation, brought us back again and again to his faithfulness and his constancy. You know, Jesus is the same today as he was yesterday, and he's going to be the same forever. And I just think that's a beautiful truth, that though these seasons in our lives change, he's the one who's in control of all of them.

0:35:05 - (Natalie Abbott): And also he's unchanging. So thank you so much, Emily, for joining me today. And I hope that that's for our listeners out there. I hope there's some, some little nuggets of truth that you've been able to grasp. But for me, I think that's the main one that, that you kept. I feel like that's the, the matic here for our conversation is that, you know, Jesus is always the same. And that's the good news as our lives change and things can be hard or easy or crazy or whatever, that Jesus never changes and he never leaves us.

0:35:37 - (Natalie Abbott): And that's a good, that's a good thing. So anyway, thank you so much, Emily, for joining me today. Thank you for your wisdom. And I'm, I'm just, I'm storing these things up as I, you know, like bear like sprints die across the finish line right now.

0:35:53 - (Emily Jensen): You got this. You got this. Oh, than having me. And I hope your, your day of rest is coming.

0:35:58 - (Natalie Abbott): Yes, it will be here.

0:35:59 - (Emily Jensen): It will be here.

0:36:01 - (Natalie Abbott): Awesome.