change
Gusts of wind are howling through the autumn hued trees taking with them nature’s kaleidoscope. The season is changing and the weather is its witness. The swing between cold and warm, rain and shine, gives evidence that fall is progressing with winter close behind. It has been fifteen years since I last witnessed an autumnal season change and unlike memories of childhood, this experience is invigorating. The quiet of the country only magnifies the sound of wind rustling over the tin clad roof in these moments before daybreak. These moments of quiet meditation and reflection nourish prayers of thankfulness for the opportunities that lie ahead and for the victories and challenges already won. The discovery that life is greater than a single event opens doors to a whole new vista wherein mountains and valleys may be seen as essential elements on life’s canvas. Challenges become opportunities and victories become learning points waiting to be unwrapped as one of the gifts of life. Even failures are tempered as they are placed within the context of life’s eternal narrative. Today is God’s offering of grace. I am learning more about what it means to share His gifts out of an overflow of thankfulness that He is God and I am not! “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 NKJV
Soon this quiet place called home will be bustling with the charm and chatter of arriving guests. The house and yard are being prepared for the tide of family and friends who will come to celebrate the legal and spiritual union of my son and his lovely and loving soon to be wife. While the event is days away, thoughts of things to come are giving fuel to today’s agenda of preparation and planning. Hope and desire for a joyful outcome are great motivators. All the things that have taken months of preparation are simply backdrops to the experience of those who will attend. The hope that all who are present will enjoy the celebration of life and love is the fabric that is woven with love itself. That hope gives rise to even the smallest of agenda items that are intended as enhancements to the already adequate venue. I am discovering that sometimes living in the moment involves planning for moments to come. Even the moments of limited freedom in movement compounded with aches and pains can be embraced with plans for moments to come when one or both are diminished or absent. The past gives evidence that change is all around us and awaits our weighted embrace to help it on its way.
The light of the morning sun glistens through the tree tops as it rises from the East. The crisp fall air bids adieu to the days of summer. The leaves once glowing green now fall gently in the breeze, inhabited by a multitude of yellow, red, and brown hues. Fall has fully arrived and ushers in evenings around the wood burning stove and days shuffling between sweaters and short sleeved shirts. For some, the change of season brings with it stiffness, aches, and pains. For others it may usher in freedom of movement as a relief from the heat and humidity that frequently accompanies the summer sun. Whether stiff, achy, or free from either, the season rolls on with the promise of winter to come that prepares us for thankfulness when spring arrives once more. In each season is found reason for giving thanks for the life we are afforded and its opportunities for listening and learning. I in one moment detest the notion of having to remember to take my medication and be bound by its absorptive half life and in the next moment give thanks that the medication is available and, so far, effective. Such is life! It’s inconvenient to have to go to the supermarket but it is great having the family over for dinner. It would be hard to accomplish one without the other. Sometimes inconveniences provide opportunities.