Life unfolds in seasons.
From our first breath to our first steps, our first day of school, first love, first employment, and countless other milestones, we eagerly celebrate beginnings. Yet, when familiar chapters draw to a close, we often struggle to release what we have grown to cherish.
Yesterday, I cycled fourteen miles through Michigan’s autumn landscape. The temperature hovered in the forties, yet I rode comfortably, savoring the crisp air and the lingering tenderness of summer.
Something remarkable caught my attention.
By the end of October, many trees have ordinarily surrendered their leaves, their branches standing bare against the approaching winter. Yet here were trees still clothed in green, others adorned in gold and crimson, seemingly reluctant to relinquish their summer garments.
And I loved it!
I found myself wishing this beautiful interlude would linger a little longer. As an artist, I have painted these seasonal transformations, capturing their brilliance before the winds carry their colors away.
But winter is coming.
Soon, the frosty air will sharpen, and Michigan’s landscape will disappear beneath blankets of powdery snow.
Then a thought stirred within me: Why do we welcome the beauty of beginnings yet resist the necessity of endings?
Ecclesiastes reminds us that everything has its appointed time.
When winter approaches, we prepare our sweaters, gloves, scarves, and coats. Should we not prepare our hearts with equal diligence for life’s changing circumstances?
My father often reminded me, “This too shall pass.” What profound wisdom!
Some seasons invite celebration; others demand endurance. Some bring abundance; others teach contentment. Yet each carries lessons we might never discover if life remained perpetually comfortable.
We cannot command autumn to linger, nor hurry spring into blooming. But we can trust the God who governs every season.
So embrace change without surrendering your peace. Celebrate what remains, release what must depart, and prepare faithfully for what lies ahead.
Do not spend your winter mourning autumn, or your spring regretting winter.
There is beauty in the blooming, dignity in the falling, wisdom in the waiting, and grace in beginning again.
For the tree that releases its leaves has not surrendered its life. Beneath its bare branches, tomorrow’s blossoms are already a promise.
And so it is with us.
Seasons change. God’s faithfulness does not.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, give me a grateful heart for what has been, courage for what is changing, and faith for what is yet to come. Teach me to recognize Your presence in every season of my life. Amen.
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)
