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LECTURE NOTES 204: SEASONS OF A WOMAN’S LIFE –
TAUGHT BY
FREDA CREWS
Lesson Description: “We can have it all!—just not all at the same time,” says Dr. Crews. Learn
how women can gracefully adapt to successive seasons of life, yielding to Christ, while fulfilling
her purpose and being fulfilled.
Learning Objectives: In this lesson you will learn...
1. The stages of a woman’s life
2. The kinds of loss particular to women.
3. The distinction between pain and suffering.
4. The various types of grief women can experience.
5. The six stages of grief.
6. How women can prepare for and grow strong through the winter season of life.
About our Speaker: Author, Licensed professional counselor, Television Host of Time for
Hope, M.A. North American Baptist Seminary, D. Min. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Lecture Notes 204: Seasons of a Woman’s Life
I. Introduction: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 “...To everything there is a season, and a time for
every purpose under heaven...”
II. Seasons of Life
A. Spring: new life, freedom, expectation
B. Summer: full of activity
C. Fall: time of reflection and revision of values/priorities, aging issues emerge
D. Winter: death process begins
III. Human Experience
A. Pain – experienced in the past
1. Abuse – physical, sexual, psychological
2. Abandonment – by fathers
3. Rejection – by mothers
B. Need deprivation
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1. Security
2. Belonging
C. Esteem needs
1. Self-concept
2. Identity
3. Growth
4. Fulfillment
D. Transitions/adjustments
1. Empty nest syndrome
2. Menopause
E. Suffering -- prolonged intense pain / experienced in the present
1. Tormented soul -- emotional, psychological
2. Abuse -- by parents or spouse
3. Failures
4. Physical violence
5. Verbal, emotional abuse
6. Separation/divorce
7. Self-doubt
8. Spiritual
F. Mental disorders
1. Depression (Note: women are twice as likely as men to experience bouts of
clinical depression.)
2. Anxiety
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3. OCD/ADHD
4. Panic disorders
5. Addictions
6. PMS, PSDD, Eating Disorders
IV. Loss
A. Self-concept / identity
1. Through a betrayal
2. Through seeking approval
3. Through rejection
B. Loss of innocence
C. Death of a significant other
D. Divorce
E. Small deaths
1. Failure
2. Loss of job
3. Loss of home
4. Financial loss
5. Empty nest
6. Loss of health
7. Loss of youth
8. Loss of use of body parts
V. Grief – the cognitive and emotional response to a significant loss of anyone
or anything which has emotional value to us.
A. A grieving person can experience
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1. Emotional turmoil
2. Guilt
3. Depression
4. Anger
5. Sadness
6. Rage
7. Loneliness
8. Resentment
9. Hopelessness
10. Eating disturbances
11. Sleep disturbances
12. Sexual disturbances
13. Psychosomatic complaints
14. Family/marital problems
B. Types of
Grief
1. Chronic Grief – ongoing
2. Acute Grief -- unanticipated loss
3. Anticipatory Grief
C. Stages of Grief
1. Shock -- some shock in all loss
2. Denial
3. Anger
4. Bargaining -- with God
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5. Depression -- chronic or clinical
6. Acceptance -- resignation, acceptance helps us move on
VI. Preparing for the Winter Season
Virtuous women accept the reality that these days will come (1Peter 4:12–13)
A. Predictable
B. Universal experience
C. Seems paradoxical to God’s nature
D. Encountering evil
VII. Growing Strong through the Winter Seasons
A. Accept that they have a purpose (Romans 5:3–4,Romans 8:28–29)
B. God’s purposes may include the following (consider how)
1. Perseverance
2. Endurance
3. Prove our faith genuine (1 Peter 1:6–7)
4. Bring us to Himself
5. Increased capacity for God
6. Increased appreciation of the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 4:13)
7. Change—refine—our character
8. Help us accept discipline as evidence of love
9. Change our view of discipleship
10. Make us compassionate (2 Corinthians 1:3–4)
11. Give us hope (Jeremiah 29:11–13, Hebrews 6:19)
12. Give meaning to life—present and future hope
C. Allow the Purposes of God to Work
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1. Accept personal responsibility for growth and change.
2. Learn all you can learn from this season.
3. Might require you to admit that you have brought some of the difficulties of
this season on yourself, that you are reaping what you have sown.
4. Might require getting professional help.
5. Might require a support group.
D. Requires you to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18)
1. Truth
2. Righteousness
3. Peace
4. Faith – belief in the promises of God
5. Salvation
6. Using the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God
7. Praying in the Spirit
VIII. Look beyond the Winter Season
A. Spring will come again (Revelation 21:4)
B. Endure till the end
C. Keep our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1–3)
D. Anticipate our rewards (James 1:12)
E. Winter = Death
F. Spring = New Life ... Eternal Life!
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Lecture Notes 204 Study Questions
1. Which season of life are you presently experiencing? Who do you know going
through the winter season of life? What challenges do you see as most daunting
in the winter season of life (for yourself or others)?
2. Are there areas of past pain or present suffering that you are dealing with? How
about your friend or loved one who is in the winter season? How could the truths
in this lesson help those going through such pain, suffering, or the winter
season?
3. Describe a loss that you have experienced that deeply touched your life. How
have you grieved this loss or where are you in the six phases of grief Dr.
Crews explained? What losses are being felt by your loved one who is in the
winter season of her life?
4. If you have gone through a time of grief and moved on, relate how you
experienced each of the six phases and how you were finally able to move
beyond the grief (if you have yet)? Share some lessons you have learned and
ways you have grown by going through such grief.
5. How clearly are you envisioning the Bible promises of new life coming
after death?
Bibliography/Reading List:
Joseph & MaryAnn Mayo. The Menopause Manager
David Hager. Stress and the Woman’s Body
Archibald D. Hart. The Anxiety Cure
Archibald D. Hart, Catherine Hart Weber, & Debra Taylor. Secrets of Eve
Freda V. Crews. Get Off Your Back
