seasons change...

During a too-brief chat with a dear friend this morning our conversation turned towards the current autumn season. She, being surrounded by fall's splendid array of colors and knowing we share a love for this crisp season, was sharing about recent ways in which she had embraced and celebrated it. As far back as I can recall I have had a special affinity for fall- the colors, the smells, the crunchy leaves beneath my feet- I love it all!!! Each year I endure summer and its sweltering heat only because it is, as I see it, a precursor to fall- the most glorious of all seasons. There are pumpkin spice lattes to drink and super-snugly sweaters to pull out. Yes, I love fall...except...this year there was no filling my home with festive decor, no lighting of rusty-orange candles and purposely walking straight through the middle of a freshly raked leaf pile. I jested with my friend that I was in semi-protest and have refused to "celebrate" a season that is now no longer evident outside my windows. There are no shades of crimsons and deep orange, the palm trees and cacti have not given up their leaves in surrender to another season. Yes the temperature in the evenings has dipped a bit, but it is not fall here- not by any stretch of the imagination, or at least not by the definition that has always existed in my mind. For someone who has always both appreciated and embraced the distinct and well- defined traditional four seasons, I'm taken back a bit by what I'm experiencing. I like structure. I like the cut-and-dry predictability of winter, spring, summer, fall, winter, spring, summer, FALL... In a world bursting at the seems with uncertainty, I welcome what is sure and stable, familiar and comfortable. By nature I've never been a thrill-seeker who enjoys the adventure of change, especially change to the faithful and predictable routines of life. I like plans and maps and blueprints. I like checklists and calendars. And I like fall to be categorically fall. And yet, here I am. October is quickly coming to a close and it is still a forecasted 90* in Buda, TX today. As I admitted in jokes to my friend, I haven't embraced the season here. What I didn't admit was what I didn't really realize until now; my refusal to enjoy the season was largely due to the fact that it didn't look like or feel like the fall I've always known. What I was failing to see was that seasons return but they don't replicate. This is not the fall of yesteryear, this is a new season. Sure it may have familiar sights and sounds, smells and experiences, but is also an opportunity for something brand new and exciting. Longing for yesterday may only leave me missing out on today. As much as I love the autumn season and what it's always been, I am not willing to forfeit what God has planned today lamenting over what has already come and gone. With all that can change and vary from day to day and season to season, I am reminded in this moment of still reflection that I have an unchanging God. I have a God who loves me and a God who knows me. He understands that I desperately require SOMETHING stable and sure, trustworthy and solid in my life and, He is. He reminds me that HE never changes...same yesterday, today and forever. Because He knows and loves me so personally, He also knows how crucial it is that He changes things up on me as He chooses and often when I least expect it. He loves to keep me guessing, to keep me amazed and in awe, to keep me trusting. Seasons change, my friends, without our permission and sometimes without our approval. As I've found, we can resist and despise the circumstances of each season or we can rejoice and be glad in them...