One recent morning, I rushed through the double-doors outside my study with ten pressing tasks on my mind. Yet five steps in, I saw out of the corner of my eye a small object flutter in the breeze.
I paused, looked down, and noticed a reddened maple leaf with a mosaic of orange, brown, and green hues blended through its feathery center. The deciduous remnant, apparently, blew through the night before and drifted slowly to the floor.
Without hesitation, I leaned over and picked up the lonely leaf. My first gut-instinct was to mindlessly tossed it in the nearby trash can.
However, as I held the once lush green leaf in my hand, I grew misty-eyed. The change of seasons has a way of developing tears in me – not merely because the crisp northern wind makes my eyes water, but because the shift to yet another season reminds me that life is always pressing forward.
The clock is forever ticking. Life doesn’t come with a pause button.
A change of seasons reflects the fact that my children have grown another inch or two in height. They’ve moved up a grade in school. Our three young kids are changing, maturing, and hopefully, developing as disciples of Jesus.
How rapidly these fleeting moments race passed our noses. Will I notice or just hurry on by?
Pondering the aged leaf of an acer saccharum prods my mind toward the reality of aging. Another season… a few less brown hairs and several more gray strands on my head.
And I wonder: “Am I just growing older, or am I growing better, sweeter with the aroma of Christ?
A shift in seasons brings my heart back to the first week Stephanie and I spent together with my family. Autumn arrived late that year in Texas. Maple leaves brightly adorned the ground. Stephanie’s effervescent smile sparkled with the November sun. Now we’re in our twelfth fall moment together.
I pray our loving union as husband and wife is tightening, not loosening, sweetening not souring.
A turn of seasons. The grass will soon turn pale green and brown with dormancy. Flower buds and petals will close up, droop down, and fade away from the sun.
Autumn forces us to peer into the piercing beauty of growing, aging, and dying – a pacing set by providence.
It’s bewildering yet enlightening… even reviving to the soul.
Hear the ancient words of King David in these poignant lines of poetry:
“As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, and it’s place acknowledges it no longer.”
(Psalm 103:15-16)
With the deciduous flashes of crimson red, sun-flame orange, and deep golden yellows, God gathers my attention.
Watch. Wait. Listen. Life is short. The seasons never stop their forward march.
The grace of aging comes through knowing what is never changing. Follow the next lines in David’s song:
“But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to do them.”
(Psalm 103:17-18)
Our Creator of the seasons is the eternal Giver of love and Guardian of all that is right. Those who bow to Him in joyful, willing faith receive His un-aging, unstoppable love.
A song of grace blows through the wind-whipped trees:
King David tells: our days are numbered
The winds of time will ever blow
Our moments are built to be seasoned
The steps we take are seeds to sow
The grass withers
A flower fades
But the Word of the Gospel?
This foundation forever remains
God’s message chants in the breeze:
Many seasons wax and wane
Mankind will rise and fall
But this is ever-true:
I Am
Compassionate in your weakness
Gracious toward your failures
Slow to anger in your rebellion
Faithful in my love toward you
Through every shadow and season
I Am with you to the end
So I gaze, again, at the fading streak of green in the center of a quickly dying maple leaf. I remember: The Lord’s lovingkindness is from everlasting to everlasting. No end is in sight to the measure of His mercy.
God has continually proven Himself faithful. So why should I doubt Him now?
September 28, 2019
God reveals himself in all of His creation, from the dying leaf to the rising sun. Thanks Pastor Michael for your thoughts and your willingness to share your heart with your family of God. God is my strength in weakness with compassion, my grace, my redeemer, my faithful love to the end. He lifts me up in this season of heartaches, just like a leaf, God’s creation is dying because of sin, but as we look to the creator, HE is our hope. We are His created and His fullness is in us, in life or death.
Love your Heart Michael, for Him, Diane Terrian.
October 4, 2019
Dear Diane,
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and share your personal reflections with me! I greatly appreciate your encouragement and I’m thankful for God’s work of grace and hope in you. May God bless you abundantly with His peace in Jesus Christ!