"Watch with glittering eyes the world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places." - Roald DahlI love the season of Fall. I love to watch the leaves change...and the temperature. With fall comes color, cider, warm blankets, bonfires, and the holidays. This year our Fall was a little delayed. The leaves aren't as bright as usual because of the lack of consistent rain and a late frost last year. Even still, this season is beautiful. I think somehow the sparseness of the color has made me notice it even more. As I drive down random streets, I encounter a bright red or bright orange tree here or there and it just takes my breath away. God is so creative.
The season of Fall also means the stress of tests, papers, and projects for you as a student. I know...I was one not long ago. I remember well the feeling of excitement for the holidays coupled with the tension of finishing what felt like a thousand papers and projects each year during seminary. The irony of it all is that just outside of the library where I spent the better part of my afternoons and evenings (and some mornings!) stood the most gorgeous ginkgo tree you could ever imagine. (See the photo above for a glimpse of a ginkgo tree right here in Arkansas. The one at Asbury was even larger and more vibrant than this one!). Most days I was too wrapped up in my studies to see it. Even in the middle of Kentucky (stunning in the Fall, by the way...), I found it difficult to enjoy this season I love so much.
My challenge to you today is to be present in this season and every season of your life. It is so easy to look too far forward and miss what God is saying right in front of you. Even looking too far ahead to otherwise good things (holidays, family, graduation, etc.) can cause us to miss the unbelievable things He is trying to say to us and show us in our present. And He has so much to say to us through creation and the created...
Stop. Breathe. Relax. Enjoy. Pray. Listen. Be.
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