Changing Seasons

September is a quiet month that leads us into the cool days of autumn. The harsh heat of August is gone and it becomes more comfortable during the days and cooler nights. Daylight hours become shorter and the stars are more brilliant in the midnight sky. I wonder why this happens. It would seem as if the stars would stay the same brightness year around but that just doesn’t seem to be the case in the fall and winter seasons or it seems that way to me.

The busy sounds of fall take place in September. You can hear farm machinery for miles around as the farmers harvest their crops. Fields become bare.

     The squirrels and chipmunks are busy gathering hickory nuts and acorns for their winter food. I watched recently as a squirrel scurried up and down the peach tree in my back yard. It gathered every peach left on the tree because it knew the seeds would make a tasty meal for the long winter days ahead.

     All of nature joins in on a celebration. The trees start to change their colors and flowers put on their most elaborate display. It is as if they are giving their final performance before the cold hands of frost shows up to close the show.

Every living thing has stepped up the pace. It is a signal that the celebration has begun and all of life joins in on the summer farewell party.

It is a sad reminder for me that very soon the purple blooms of the morning glories will be gone. I am not ready for the confinement winter brings to my life and the long days ahead of being stuck inside.

      One night recently, I stepped out on my front porch and the night seemed so quiet. There were no sounds coming from the crickets. I wondered if they were already gone for the winter…Responsibilities have been crashing in on me recently; “Lord, I wondered why I must be spread so thin? I am not sure how much longer I can handle these situations,” I whispered.

“Peace, be still,” I felt God speak in the wind as it gently blew through the trees. He reminded me “To everything there is a time and a season. The hardships will not last forever.” His presence comforted me and I went inside with a less heavy heart than I had before I went outside.  

   The next morning I saw a praying mantis on the sidewalk. It was raining “cats and dogs,” but the poor little fellow was looking toward heaven as if he was praying. “Say one for this old gray haired lady standing over you little one,” I said to him.

With a smile, I said my good-bye to this quiet creature. “Hopefully, I will see you again little friend.”

 It was then I reminded myself how foolish it is to worry about the seasons and how they change. Time changes, seasons change and it is for my best interest that I welcome each change and be thankful to the Lord that I am here to witness each one...