Changing Seasons

I have a certain fascination with Fall leaves. I love to see the brilliance of the reds, yellows, and oranges (especially the reds!). I don’t know why, unless it’s because we lived so many years overseas in a country without the four seasons. Or maybe it’s just the nostalgia of my childhood growing up at the foot of the Blue Mountains in Pennsylvania. Looking out the big picture window in our dining room at the mountain, I could see the trees go through the changes of each season.

On a recent walk with my friend, Linda, I stopped to pick up this leaf from the sidewalk. It intrigued me because of the parts that were still green. Maybe, like me, it wasn’t ready to give up summer quite yet. But seasons come and seasons go, and change happens. It happens in the lives of all of us, doesn’t it? It is certainly happening in the world around us!

Perhaps you are going through a season of change in your own life. Maybe it’s a work situation, where you are wondering how much longer your job will continue, or even if you want to continue in it. Maybe your children are growing up – Way … Too … Fast – and you feel like your role in their lives is losing influence. Maybe you feel uncertain if you’ve done enough to prepare them for the next stage. Maybe you’re tired. You’ve worked hard and there’s still so much that needs doing, but you have less energy than you used to have, and life has become more complicated.

Whatever it is, this is a SEASON … a season where change can still be beautiful!

Charles H. Spurgeon said, “The seasons change, and you change, but the Lord abides evermore the same, and the streams of His love are as deep, as broad, and as full as ever.“

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

In whatever season you find yourself, His love is deep and broad and full.

Blessings,

Ruth

Letting Go

Yesterday we took our daughter and her children to the airport. The four weeks they spent with us passed soooo quickly! As we left them to board their flight back to Austria, I couldn’t help but think of all the times we left my parents behind in the 17 years we were living in Africa. I remember the exciting ‘hellos’ and the sad ‘goodbyes.’ I acknowledge their commitment to us and to our work, and the love they showed while letting go.

I think of the moms who are letting go of their children now that summer vacation is over – seeing them go off to schools, or colleges, to military service, marriage, or new jobs. For some it is the first of many letting go’s. For others it is not the first time, but it is still hard. A piece of your heart is leaving. If you could, maybe you’d hang on tight and keep that loved one close … but you know that would not be love. Love sometimes means release and a series of letting go.

Take courage, Mom. You’ve done your best to instruct, train, encourage, and challenge your children to be and to do their best. Fully entrust them into the hands of the One who never fails. The One who sticks closer than a brother. The One who will never leave them or forsake them. The Eternal God is their refuge and strength and He’s yours, too!

Cling to Him in your sadness.

Lay your burden of worry at His feet.

Trust Him to see and hear them, even when you cannot.

Thank Him for being ever-present with them wherever they go,

and with you wherever you are.

The following Scripture verses encourage me. Maybe they will encourage you, too.

• 1 Peter 5:7
• Psalm 55:22
• Hebrews 13:5
• Proverbs 18:24
• Psalm 46:1
• Deuteronomy 33:27
• Psalm 139:1-12

Blessings,

Ruth