Fall is here! Everyone seems to love the Fall; whether it be football, wearing flannel, orange colors, pumpkin spice lattes, hot chocolate, the end of 100 degree days or scary movies, there seems to be something that gets everyone excited about this time of the year. Kathryn Lively, who is a professor of Sociology at Dartmouth believes our love for Fall comes from our experiences as a child. “As children, we come to associate fall with going back to school, new school supplies, seeing friends. It’s exciting, for most. We still respond to this pattern that we experienced for eighteen years.” Perhaps she is right but I also get excited about spring. I had a friend who lived in Southern California for a while. He said the worse part about living there was that the seasons never changed. While 75 degrees and sunny sounds great, having it every day got old.
I like living in a place where the seasons change. I wish I was as open about the seasons of change in my own life. Change in our own life is difficult to embrace. Why is it that our first reaction to change is pushback? Maybe this isn’t the case for all of you, but I believe that God moves us forward to new and exciting things through the changing of seasons in our life.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” -Isaiah 43:19“
He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” –Daniel 2:21 God is a God who is calling us to new and exciting places, as people and as a church. God is a God who calls us to change. Instead of us digging our heels in with every new idea thrown our way, maybe we should look forward to what God is doing next, as the anticipation of fall.
Blessings, Duawn Mearns