welcome change

    I cannot believe that the first day of Autumn (Fall) has arrived. Fall – to lose the old, to have its proper place. This is just part of the many definitions of what the dictionary says “fall” is.  What is crazy is that the dictionary is talking about fall like ‘I fell down’, not fall like ‘the season’ and yet how appropriate the definition is.
 
    I love Fall!! The color change, the weather change, the smell change…..its all about change. But to change means that something must go.
 
    As I sit here looking out the window with massive trees all around my back yard, I visualize what will be happening in less than a month. Leaves falling. What was once trees deep in rich green, then trees with vibrant shades of red, orange and yellow, will soon become trees that will be empty. Nothing left but the branches. I guess our human side finds that sad, and we wish the color stayed. We think the only thing that makes the trees beautiful is the colorful leaves …why does it have to be so bare? But, that’s a sign of what is to come.
 
    But for every beginning there is an end and for every ending there is a new beginning. What I find amazing is that those trees still stand. Those branches still reach out and upward. Not like my plants in the front of my house that have to be cut back and will re-grow from their roots next Spring. Those trees still stand. There is beauty in the strength of those branches.
 
    This is a picture of what Jesus does in our lives. We go through all kinds of seasons. Some are seasons of hard times, some loneliness, seasons of loss or other things such as financial hardships. And those seasons change us. We have seasons that are bright and beautiful and rich in life. Then we have seasons God allows things in our life to enter so we don’t remain the same. But through all those seasons, He is telling us to let go and let Me. Let go and let Me show you what I can do. Let go and let Me show you what I can teach you… There is strength in your branches with Me. We have to let go, and grow a new perspective.
 
Is 43:18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold I am doing a new thing: now it springs forth, do not perceive it? It will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the dessert.”
 
Welcoming the change of Christ,
Be Guinn, Youth Director