This weekend, I enjoyed a walk at the park with Chap, Will and our dog, Belle. I breathed in the fall air and started to notice early signs of the leaves changing. It seems like all of the sudden, the seasons have changed. This year I have been more intentional about sabbath and outdoor time, but still fall weather snuck up on me.

I was reminded this morning that God is working, even when I'm not paying attention. Fall is a season filled with changes. In some homes your first child starts school, in others someone starts college, while still others of you face an empty nest. The fall seems to bring more changes than any other season. Fall also begins the season of dormancy and hibernation in nature, I think we too welcome it as it brings us relief from the pace of summer.

Life often seems to move so quickly and many times we are the ones that can be rushing it along. I would invite you to take a few moments today to consider this scripture:

After looking at the way things are on this earth, here's what I've decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that's about it. That's the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what's given and delighting in the work. It's God's gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It's useless to brood over how long we might live.
-Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, from the Message

We can embrace change not because we know what is coming, but because we know that we can trust our future to God. Just as we look forward from one season to the next, anticipating and longing for change, we can also embrace the changes we face anticipating God to work. We can place our hope in God.

Take a moment to stop and look around you. What are some ways that God has been working in your life recently, while you have been focused in a different direction? As we enter this season filled with changes, consider this scripture and then an image that connects with you. Take a picture and save as a reminder of this message.

Prayer for Today

Creator God, Just when we settle into a pattern, things change far too quickly. One door opens; another closes. We rise, we eat, we sleep. We smile, we laugh, we cry. Change itself is ever changing. Guide us through this season and may we be open to the ways you bring blessings and challenges through changes in our lives. In Christ's Name, Amen.