Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Autumnal Thoughts

September is half over today and Autumn is right around the corner. I can feel it in the air, and see it as the trees are just beginning to hint at the glorious color that is on its way. Virginia in Autumn is a beautiful place to be- I can't imagine being anywhere else. I just love it.

The change in seasons always reminds me that I need to take time to make sure that with the frenetic pace of life in these United States I'm keeping up spiritually, physically, emotionally and all that.

Life is never easy---for the Christian or the non-Christian. I used to think that as Christians we should have it easier, but as the song "Through the Fire" (which we are singing in choir on Sunday) states "God did not promise that cross would not get heavy, that the hill will not be hard to climb. He never offers our victories without fighting..." but He goes through it WITH us. So yes, looking at it that way, we do have it easier, because we have God right beside us. We all go through crap, some of it is measly little, daily stuff, like watching the clock at work and wishing the hour hand would just move, or struggling with an out of order appliance.

There are also the harder things--death, rape, thievery, friends letting you down, worries about how to pay the bills, a broken car, a kid that is wayward, a spouse that is deployed and you are left at home to man the homefront and pray for a safe return, etc. No matter what the battles are, we have an amazing capability to overcome and be stronger for it.

We also have a built in sense of the amazing--be it the Autumn colors, the glory of crisp air, a major sports feat, watching an ocean sunset, or whatever it is, we are built to enjoy the marvelous, to be enraptured by so much. Autumn (such a prettier word than Fall) is a time to marvel and enjoy life, before the hibernation of Winter. It is a great time to get outside and just breathe--to slow down. It is hard, but it is important. Even if it is just 2 minutes a day, we need to stop and marvel.

-ME-

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