Seasons of Change

The shifting of season from summer to autumn, more than any other turn of the year, makes me think about change. There's something about the grace with which the trees give way to winter hibernation, not dead, but resting, that always strikes my spirit.

I grew up in a farming community; there is no "summer break." Summer is for work, and the beginning of autumn marks the slowing down of that work, when we can take a breath, and when rest comes for us, too. 

The end of a season, whether the changing of the year or a marked season in our life, can be scary. We get used to the summer heat, and now, suddenly, we're scrambling for all of the cold weather gear we had packed away into the back corner. Of course, winter brings its own difficulties and trials; we launch into a new unknown.

Isn't that just like life? The way change can be terrifying, even when we mostly know what to expect, or think we do. We might build an image of how it's supposed to be only to find that it's...not like that at all. It's unnerving. But how boring would life be if there was no change, no unknown, no new and fresh?

If you're in a season of change, as I am, and as I know Katie Rae is, too, may we all look to the autumn trees, and be reminded of how beautiful change can really be.

Much love,

Erika, of Heartbeat on the Prairie