Changing Seasons

Living in Florida, during summertime, has always been a challenge for me.  It is not unusual to walk out the front door and into a steamy sauna.  The hot, wet air wraps itself around me like a soggy blanket. Spending more than five minutes outside brings sticky wet clothes, damp hair and beads of perspiration.  However, there are parts of summer that I really enjoy.  I love wearing shorts, swimming in the sun, wading at the beach and hearing the sound of crickets and frogs in the evening.  But while the warm air affords me those blessings, I don't love mowing the lawn every week, exercising in 78% humidity, nor do I enjoy the steep electric bill, or the oven greeting me when I open the front door.  The hot season lasts from June to October, so every year I anticipate the arrival of autumn as a breath of fresh air.  While my northern neighbors experience autumn weather close to the autumnal equinox - (this year, September 22nd) - we Floridians have to wait until slow moving cold fronts usher in cooler air.

Yesterday, I awoke to 78 degrees with a high reaching only 84 degrees.  I walked out the front the door and into the hope of a new season.  I look forward to cooler temps, pumpkins, apples and pears, shorter days, long walks in cool air, along with jeans and long sleeves with the occasional sweater.

So, the circle of life continues.  God calls us to release both the blessings and the hardships of summer, so that we can receive the newness of autumn.  This fall season will bring change - both hardship and blessing, as each season does.  I wonder what lessons I will learn?  What necessary death and new life will God bring? 

I walk through all of the seasons and within each one God breathes fresh hope and faith into my heart as I submit to Him. He renews my spirit and I want to keep pushing for the finish line.

I wonder if there are seasons in Heaven?  I can't imagine a Heaven without an autumn and winter- even though they are synonymous with dying leaves and approaching hardship.  Autumn and winter are beautiful in their own ways.  So too, are the seasons of our lives.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

 
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Grateful for grace,