a u t u m n :
I always forget how much I love this season until it’s here, it has a special place in my heart. . . autumn has always been tainted for me because of the looming winter and having to say goodbye to summer. . . but, despite those mixed emotions, autumn brings so. much. unmistakable. beauty.
I’m so grateful that God created change and seasons.
And I love that creation shows that God can make *even* change beautiful.
I’ve always viewed spring & autumn as transition seasons: they don’t last very long and their role is to usher in the next season. . . spring brings summer and autumn welcomes winter. Because of that I’ve always felt like autumn is a season that’s hard to enjoy or settle into. The moment it comes, it’s gone. It can also be quite unpredictable (at least in North Carolina where one day it’s 75 degrees & sunny, and the next is cold, damp & cloudy.)
While the leaves fall and die I have thought to myself: “how amazing is it that God created the leaves to change color!? You know?! like. . . He could’ve made them just turn brown or simply anticlimactically fall without anything significant to show for. But no. . . He doesn’t do anything halfheartedly, He wanted to make it beautiful in the process. He wanted to make us stop & stare in awe of His handiwork.”
And maybe the thing about fall that makes us stop in our tracks to soak in the scenery for just a little while longer is the fact that we know it’ll soon be gone. . . it won’t last long and as fast as the leaves change they also fall; in a matter of weeks the trees will be bare and winter will be here. So we stop because we don’t know how much longer we have.
Similarly, there have been many seasons in my life that were shorter than I had expected and ended faster than I thought they would. Wishing I could go back to appreciate a time that’s come and gone doesn’t change that fact that it’s no longer here. While the four seasons in a year are predictable in their repeating rhythms, life’s seasons don’t hold such promise.
"you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." -James 4:14
“To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven”
-Ecclesiastes 3:1
"teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." -Psalm 90:12
Because life is so short I can appreciate the seasons that only feel like they’re here to usher in the next. I can be grateful for where I am today without feeling like I should hurry on in anticipation of the next.
"do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." -Matthew 6:34
I’m so thankful that God doesn’t make the in-between boring or dull. No! Fall shows me that He chooses to show His glory and make something truly awe-inspiring out of His creation; even as it’s dying. There’s no season so short or seemingly insignificant that God can’t bring something beautiful in the midst of it.
So, as we’re in the days of pumpkin everything, warm meals, shorter days, sweaters, and cooling temperatures I remember that there’s so much to be grateful for. . . Thanksgiving is not an activity reserved for one day, it’s something God has called us to dwell in every day and in every season. Don’t allow saying “goodbye” to a previous season or the uncertainty of the next season to rob you of the gratitude you can live in today.
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." -1 Thessalonians 5:18
If it’s hard for you to give thanks in the season you’re in, I know what that’s like, I’ve been there and have things today that are very hard to be grateful for.
But don’t let that stop you. Start small:
the smell of pine.
your family around the table.
the sound of leaves crunching under your feet.
the feeling of a warm mug clutched between your hands.
leaves displaying the most beautiful shades of red, yellow & orange.
and maybe, as you start to name them one-by-one, you’ll find yourself falling in love with a season you never expected to.
“Blessed be the name of God forever: wisdom & might are His, it is He who changes the times & the seasons.” -Daniel 2:20-21
