It is FALL! My favorite time of year!!

   Ever since I can remember, I have always loved this time of year.  Fall.  Just hearing the word, or typing it in this case, makes me so happy!  The thought of seeing pumpkin spice everything gives me such joy.  The ever-changing landscape of our forest as the leaves shed their green skin for colors of orange, gold, burgundy, fluorescent shades of red and a coral color that I only see at this time of year paints an incredible picture.

  Fall!  It also takes me back to when I was a child and would go to church on Wednesday nights.  It would be warm to start off with, but as the sun set, the night air became chilly.  I would don a sweater or a jacket and walk home with my mom and brother -- dad would stay behind to lock up the church.  We would walk the path that led us home and would crunch the leaves that had fallen as we made our way.

  Sometimes in the fall, we would have a fire outside at someone's house and roast hot dogs and marshmallows.  I remember thinking how delicious that hot dog was!  How could fire make something taste so good?  And do you remember your first bite of a S'more?  Heaven on Earth!  To take something so simple as a roasted marshmallow (in my case I would set it on fire so that it got that fantastic crust!), put it on the precious row of Hershey's chocolate already atop one of the honey graham crackers, and then carefully place the second honey graham on top of the marshmallow to create a tiny, yet delicious sandwich.  I still to this day delight in this fall activity.  If you have never had one of these, I highly recommend that you find someone that will build a fire and help you make one.  You will not regret it!

  In the fall of the year, a beautiful kind of ending to life happens.  The lovely green leaves that had come out in the spring to become shade for us in the summer are now ending their positions as they do one more beautiful task.  They change their colors for us.  They turn many different shades as they lose the daylight that they needed to stay green.  Then when they can no longer hang on, they fall to the ground.  If you ever get a chance to stand in the woods on a fall day when the leaves are taking flight, it is nothing less than magical.  The sound of these trees with these dead leaves on them blowing in the wind sounds like applause.  I just stand in awe of the beauty that is fall.  Although there is an end to life in this season, the end of it is beautiful!  And it is also temporary!  For you see, we have to have fall so that winter will come, and then after that, we will have spring again, and then summer.  It is a cycle of life.

  God designed.  God made these seasons for us.  He made them with different outcomes with defined jobs.  In the spring we have new life.  These leaves come out brand new and ready to grow bigger and stronger so that when we hit the summer season, they will be able to last through the heat that summer brings.  In the summer those big, beautiful leaves shade us from the heat   They give us the coolness we need when we are so hot from the summer sun.  After the summer comes the glorious time when the leaves show off their colors.  And even though it is a type of death, it is in this death that we see the beauty that was there to shine before the end.  In the end of all the seasons is of course winter.  Now in the winter the trees are dormant.  There are no leaves on the trees -- unless they are evergreens, of course.  But looking closely throughout the winter, one can start to see that there is life working inside that tree.  Yes!  Buds begin to emerge on the branches of these trees.  And the cycle of birth, life and death begin again.

  It is just as in our lives that we can track this same cycle.  I think of it as our aging.  Like right now, I think of myself in the fall of my life.  I have had my spring and summer.  Now, I am in fall.  I think it is beautiful!  I look at my life, hopefully the first half, and think how very blessed I am.  A student asked me about my first half if I would change anything.  I sometimes think that there are some things that I would have wanted to change.  Then I think that if I did, would I be where I am today?  I don't know.  I don't think I would have stayed here in South Carolina.  I would not have met and married Benson and had the glorious life with him and our five blessings! So, now that my spring and summer are gone, what will I do with my fall and winter?  I don't know, come what may.  But I do know this.  As I have gone through these seasons, I have not walked through it alone.  My Heavenly Father has walked with me.  He has definitely carried me.  He has saved me.  I look back on my life and can see His hand.

  Will I continue to have tough times?  Absolutely.  Will I make mistakes and do things I wish I hadn't?  Probably.  Will I learn from them and be better for it?  Most assuredly.  Will I ever be alone?  No, I will not.  We don't know about tomorrow.  We know about yesterday and today, but we don't know about tomorrow.  We can know, however, Who holds tomorrow.  Isn't it a blessing that we don't have to worry about tomorrow?  We can hold onto the One Who holds tomorrow, or He can hold us.  And that is such a blessing!  

  So as you walk throughout this fall and all the other seasons to come in your life, look to God for your blessings and your help!  He is a stronghold.  He is a gentle whisper.  He is fire in our night.  He is the calm in our storm.  He is our very help in times of trouble.  Dear friend, you may be walking in a valley right now.  It may be of your own making or it may be because He has allowed it.  But one thing I know, you won't stay there.  I hope that you feel the love of God and His mighty hands today.  I pray this in Jesus's name!  I pray over you now, that if you need Him, that you will feel Him.  I ask that He remove the fire you have in your life or that He helps you walk through it, coming out the other side unscathed.  I pray that you have provision, protection, and peace today. In Jesus's name!

  There is a beautiful song out called "In Jesus Name."  I hope you are able to take time and listen to this song.  It blesses my heart when I hear it.  I love the part of it where it talks about the "impossible" and that "a breakthrough will happen today."  He alone can do all that you need.  He just needs you to come to Him!  I hope you have a really good day!  Even if today is not what you want, I hope that you are carried through it with Him and His help!  I love you, dear friend!  I am sending hugs out to you and prayers up for you!

Love, {{hugs}}, and blessings from here to there,

Chandra