Winter is on its way.

 

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. Matthew 27:45



It’s hard to believe that only a week ago, the view out my back door was stunning.  The reds and yellows bathed my yard in color, practically glowing.

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 All it took were a few dreary windy days for the leaves to fall to the ground.

Before I know it there will be snow on that ground. I used to love winter, but those days seem to be gone. I hole up in my house when it is cold out and I just don’t play in the snow like I used to. But I have spring to look forward to.

In just five or six short months, the snow will be melted and my trees will be budding out again. Life will return to my backyard.

It reminds me of Good Friday. The cold, the darkness. But Easter Sunday arrived and the sun (the Son) broke out and covered the land, bringing life to all who believed.

Lord, thank you for the many seasons of our lives. Help me to remember that no season will last forever and that warm days will return. And that someday I will be living in the endless season of life in heaven. Amen  

Just don't admit defeat

“Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.” Marilyn vos Savant

 Some weeks I will write diligently and feel like I am making progress, then I have a week or two where I just don’t accomplish much. I reprimand myself and label myself a failure. I berate myself and tell myself that I will never be a writer. But then I rally and get back to the keyboard and do ok for a while.

Maybe it’s like smoking. I know so many people who have quit and so many of them who start up again. Granted, they should quit for good. Me? I’ll probably continue to quit writing on a regular basis, but as long as I go back to it, you can’t say that I gave up.

Until trees are growing through my floor boards, I have a chance. 

(I took these pictures last fall at a park in Minnesota. Sorry that I can't tell you the name right now, but too lazy to look it up. I know, I'm defeated once again.)

Beauty of the Seasons

We got up early yesterday morning and headed to Minnesota for the weekend. In just a little while, my husband and I will be at the Renaissance Festival for a rollicking fun day. On the drive over yesterday, we horsed around a bit and took a few pictures (ok, around 40 pictures). I thought that Wisconsin had some beautiful autumn scenes, but I think our neighbors to the west could give us some competition.
I think that our God, the loving Father that he is, gives us the beautiful autumn leaves to help us cope with the reality of the cold dreary winter coming. Of course, He gives us beauty in every season, doesn't He?
Heavenly Father, thank you for the seasons. Thank you for giving us this amazing world that we live in. Remind us that the beauty we have with us now is only a shadow of the beauty we will find one day in our home in heaven. Amen