As I was out walking yesterday I noticed the first indication that the seasons are about to change.
A few leaves on the big tree that shades our drive have already begun to turn a rosy red.
Walking on a few steps further I heard the familiar fall crunch of leaves below my feet.
Looking down I noticed that piles of brown and yellow have already begun to accumulate along the sides of the road where wind and passing cars have forced them.
Fall has ALWAYS been my favorite season! The colors, the cool comfortable air, the tastes of traditional foods, and the fall holidays all help meld this season into my mind and my senses, but this year the changing of the seasons also means something else.
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 holds this well known passage:
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
I find myself at the beginning of new season in my life- for more reasons that one: I am truly beginning the “empty nest” stage of life. My son has moved out to take a job and live on his own. My daughter has married and she and my son-in-law have purchased their own home. Hubby and I have downgraded from our big house to a much smaller, (but comfortable) house. I find myself leaving the community that I have called home for so many years, leaving people and a job that I have come to know as family.
I am not sure, at this stage, what God would have me to do with myself, but I know that he will point out the right opportunity at the right time. It may require some more patience on my part, but I am learning that I can be patient when it is called for. I know that God has a purpose for placing my family in this new home and this new community at THIS time. He is preparing me for something….. I just need to enjoy the season I am in, have faith, and wait for the signs of the changing season in life!
Renewal and Refuge 