Oh, Breathless Autumn

It's here. The wind is turning to ice and the leaves are turning to gold and red for one last burst of glory before they fall. The air smells like ripe apples, crunchy leaves, and coolness. It's autumn.

I love each season for its personality, and the way it arrives just in time. Autumn is no different. She is gentle and shy, takes a while to open up, and doesn't stay for very long around here. But hers is a breathless beauty, as she slowly but steadily lights the forests on fire, a blaze of color before the barrenness of winter. As Autumn comes, you can't help but walk a little slower, admire the scenery, as you try to feel the depth of the essence of the wind as it tries to braid your hair. 

For me, Autumn has come in good time. The heat of the busyness of summer left me with the need to rest, to heal a bit. Autumn whispers that it is time, and I agree. It is time to sit back. It is time to process, to reflect. It is time, in some ways, to let go. And it is time, in other ways, to hold on. 

It is time to take long walks. To pray. 

I took once such walk the other day, and on that walk I realized something quite incredible. I was thinking about how often I felt like I wished that I could go back to when I was first saved, and that week or so of bliss in the joy of the Lord. But that day, I did not. That day, I realized the sweetness of the trials. How it only furthered my relationship with God, because I realized that I know Him so much better--and know how much more there is to know about Him. It was like I was standing on the top of a mountain and looking over the valley where I had once thought myself lost in, and seeing how every step of the way was a step toward God. And I realized just how grateful I was that I am not back at the first moment of salvation, for this joy that I have now is richer, deeper. Harder-won.

And I realized something else. I had prayed for a long time for me to understand the concept of praying without ceasing. Because at that point, I could not fathom it. I was struggling so much because to think of God, I had to set time apart out of the day--which is not a bad thing, but not something I felt that I could do constantly. 

Yet now--now the awareness of God is constant. God is always there. And I was realizing that. Every thought that passes through my head, everything that I see relates in some way to God, causing me to learn more and more each day. 

That is so incredible. It brought some crazy new meanings to when God says, "I will never leave you or forsake you." 

So Autumn is a good thing. That chance to step back and see the great work that God has been doing, for during the summer my head is often pressed down to the ground as I plow through the busyness. 

So thank God for Autumn. Thank God for rest, for quiet days, for auburn leaves that know that death is not the end, so they proclaim the glory of God, the power of the resurrection. 

Autumn always seems to remind me that this is not the end of the story, but the beginning. 

Amen, Autumn. So be it.