Autumn

My favorite time of the year, no question.  The colors of the leaves, the crisp cool air, the excitement of holidays to come.  Most of all, it’s the feeling of contentment that I get each year.  Hard to explain why exactly, but I know it has to do with hot days being over, windows being left open and cozy socks coming out of the back of the drawer allowing for snuggling in my chair with a cozy blanket and typically a dog or cat at my side.  It lends to slower days and room for reflection and introspection.  If Autumn were a song, it would likely be a slow, melancholy song, filled with a mix of laments over past regrets and quiet melodies of peace with the here and now.

I think of Autumn as a time of preparation…trees prepare for winter by shedding their leaves and going dormant, grass too, going dormant until Spring.  Parents are preparing their children for another school year, animals start stocking up their food stores, birds take flight for warmer climate and days become shorter as if they too, are storing their light for warmer days.  I find I slow down a bit at the start of Autumn as well, craving the warmth and stillness of home, preparing for when life ramps back up and a New Year begins.  Autumn for me creates a feeling of nostalgia for days gone by.  That yearning, wistfulness for a more peaceful time of life, likely more idyllic than realistic, but peaceful just the same.  Days with Mom and Dad, brother and sister, Grandpas and Grandmas, myriads of cousins, all coming together for the holidays.  Days without responsibilities outside of just being a kid, days filled with more laughter than silence. 

Autumn is preparing for a new beginning, a restoration of the heart and soul.  It’s a chance to put some proverbial seeds into the ground in the hopes they come to healthy new life in the Spring.   I like to always keep an “Autumn frame of mind” year-round, striving to stay prepared for the next season of life all the while enjoying the changing of colors in the leaves of my heart. 

I like to think of it this way… Arise Unafraid, Trust the Unseen, and Move Nearer

Arise Unafraid each day, knowing that change is part of God’s rhythm.  Just as the trees let go of leaves that once made up some of what they were, we too are called to rise and let go of things we used to think made up our identity and find it in Christ.   Isaiah 41:10a  “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God”.  Even amid change, we can trust that He is our God, and our strength.

Trust the Unseen.  God is always at work in us and for us, though we may not see His hand, we must trust His heart. So much of Autumn’s beauty and change happens where we cannot see.  Roots deepening underground, seeds resting and growing.  Likewise, His ways are not our ways, but we must trust Him even more when we cannot see the path.   
2 Corinthians 5:7  “For we walk by faith and not by sight.”

Move Nearer.  In the quiet chill of Autumn, both literally and symbolically, God invites us to move nearer to the warmth of His presence.  Moving nearer to Him through prayer, worship and studying His word enables the Autumn of our heart to find true peace.  James 4:8a “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”

As you walk through your own Autumn moments, may it be a chance for you to take some time to reflect on what God may be removing from your life in preparation for a new start.  Autumn isn’t a season of loss, it’s an opportunity to let go, trust and to draw close.  Ask yourself:  What is that God asking me to release?  Where do I need to trust Him more?  How can I move nearer to His presence?  Let this Autumn be more than a change of weather; let it be a change of heart.

-Ann Marie Reynolds, Kingman