Nature Lesson

The sun touched the leaves, making them shimmer like gold against a blue sky. It was almost as if God was decorating his Creation for worship on that November 10 Sunday dawn. 

Like a real-life Thomas Kincaid painting, the scene seemed to glow from inside out.

And, yet, just 10 days later, the leaves have lost their luster. A hard freeze stole the gold from the trees just as assuredly as a thief robs a bank of its treasure.

The wind was its accomplice. Only a few hardy leaves hold on for dear life, gripping the barren limbs like a screaming teenage girl grips the armrest on a roller coaster ride.

This fall has been an oasis of autumn color after two years of drought.  It's amazing what a little rain can do to the fall foliage show, not to mention farm crops.

 

But maybe the leaves that crunch underneath my feet and flutter down from the canopy of cottonwoods that welcome me home are a reminder. Sometimes, we have to let the old fall away so that we can be ready for something new.

November 6, 2013

November 18, 2013

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ... Remain in me, as I also remain in You. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from Me, you can do nothing. ... If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father's glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples."

Selected verses from John 15: 1-8

I will seek beauty in the barrenness as the winter wind howls and snow decorates brown branches. And then I'll celebrate the spring and return to green. Thank you, God, for the four seasons and the reminders they bring!

February 2013

It's not what we say about our blessings, 
but how we use them,
 that is the true measure of our thanksgiving.
 –W.T. Purkiser, preacher and author