“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven,” Ecclesiastes 3:1, ESV

One of the hardest things you watch as a sports reporter is the final moments of high school careers coming to an end. We have all watched when a player’s senior season inevitably ends. This week, I was frozen as Tristin Rollins walked over to West Lincoln’s scorers table. His face solemn as he looked around trying to soak in the fans and atmosphere while fighting tears. I couldn’t raise my camera in time to catch the emotion but it was there, I have felt it before. 

As players got dressed in West Lincoln’s locker room the gym fell silent. Javarius Lewis remained the only player outside of the dressing room. He was in street clothes like he has been all year following a knee injury before their first game. Yet, he was with the team every step of the way. I managed to capture a picture of him hugging a parent before putting my camera away. 

I’m not sure what is next for Lewis but I hope he can find comfort in the fact his story is not over with the end of this basketball season. He served honorably to support the team and received a big cheer from his teammates and fans for efforts to clean up a spill on the court Monday night. Hopefully down the road he remembers the good moments with his team. 

Ecclesiastes 3 explains how everything has a season. If you look outside, everything might seem dead or asleep as few green leaves grow but I guarantee you could find some clover starting to grow. Soon clover will overtake fields followed by perennial wildflowers and blackberries before they are again plucked up by wild animals and winter will return. 

Embrace each season of life. It is okay to mourn the end of a chapter. Take time to reflect on your time playing a sport or having a certain job. There are days where I miss the popcorn and simplicity of cleaning movie theaters in high school but I don’t want to go back.  

People should also remember there is a time to dance. 

Seniors, celebrate these final months of your high school career and your graduation. It is crazy how fast the time will fly between now and May. Celebrate the soon to be start of a new chapter in your lives and take with you the lessons you have learned from playing sports or whatever activity you are a part of in school. 

Appreciate the sunrise and warm air of spring on a February day which could have been ice cold. Relish the whistling sound of wood ducks streaking across the sky and their crying call in a bayou bend. 

West Lincoln’s game Monday had moments where the bench was dancing and celebrating so much. Those moments are just as vivid as the seniors walking off of the court. 

As basketball winds down, the chaos of spring sport is upon us. It will be temporary and will be gone in a flash. Summer will be here again with not much to occupy our time until football season returns. 

One way to have comfort and stay even keeled in seasons of life is to find perspective and a focus on what comes next. Pastor Zach Kilpatrick at Mt. Zion Baptist Church shared a message about the seasons of life and finding comfort in Christ while my wife’s family dealt with the loss of a loved one last week. 

It is in Christ I have hope for what comes after I die. One day this season, my time on earth, will come to an end and how wonderful it will be for an everlasting season of praise and joy can begin. 

What do you think heaven will be like? I think it will be like Bogue Chitto. Specifically, the old white house my grandmother grew up in on Concord Lane.. A pecan tree is in the yard with a bass filled pond across the road. It will be the biggest family reunion in Bethel Baptist Church history as we gather with our Lord. 

Until that season comes, there is more work to be done and I hope you find encouragement in these words.