Today is the first day of fall...

...so from our house to yours:

(youngest daughter, circa 1997)

(hubby)

I love this time of year...it is my favorite. No other season even comes close. If I could, I would have fall, fall, winter, & fall. :) I love the cool breezes. I love the changing of the leaves, so brilliant with rich depths & hues they are. I am at heart, a fall gall, & one of my most cherished memories of fall is from when I was a child. I can remember laying on my back, on our front yard in the grass one particular late afternoon, staring up at the sky...all for the purpose of simply enjoying the crisp fall day, while I watched the clouds move, form, & change over & over again. And as I did so, I recall the cool brisk air, how it stroked & brushed & caressed my skin, ever so gently...almost as if in tandem with the swirls of the clouds I was watching up in that vast fall blue sky. It was as if God took that day, and pressed it as one presses a leaf within a book...so cherished and comforting it is to my memories. What made that day so special was not so much what I saw, but the essence of what I felt within that moment, within that day...I'm sure you know what kind of day & memory I'm talking about. It was the kind where you not only remember the moment, but you remember what that moment felt like, as well. The kind where you can almost step back in time & touch it...as if you were there once again. It was a captured space in time so serene for me...so incredibly full of the Lord's presence, as if He could literally be felt in every single molecule of the air. So etheral it was, that it is hard to describe it with any justice...it is one of those special moments that is such a delightful treat...one of those moments that the soul has words for, although the human mind does not. As I lay there with all my senses quite vividly aflame with the wonderment of fall, I just knew, beyond knew, beyond knew...that such glory had to be of His making. That He WAS in such glory. It was one of those moments one finds so comforting to pull out of one's memory box and reflect upon...a real delicacy in the everyday food pantry of life.

It was also for me, a very innocent time, where only the moment, myself, & God existed. I had no clue as to all the evil happenings of this world that were concurrently going on, as there was no internet, & I didn't watch the news. I didn't know enough to really worry about tomorrow. I was too young to regret anything much of the past. What I knew of my world was my home, my church, and my neighborhood.

Decades have now passed since that day, and I have been a "grown-up" for many a year now. But I still believe moments like that are for all of us, no matter what age we are. Age, in truth, isn't the qualifying factor. For most of us, yes, childhood is gone...but the innocence and comfort from that period can still remain, & still be found, if we would only be willing to let Him give us those gifts once again. I find such moments when I spend time alone with my Saviour, tuning out the things I now know of this world around me. I find it when I come to my Lord with that same child-heart, of innocently waiting on Him, knowing His best for me will arrive. I find it when I enjoy His moment-to-moment gifts, knowing He has made all things beautiful in His time. And I find it when holding His hand in confidence, that all is well and will remain well...because He IS.

If someone tells you the childhood is over, be reassured that for those of us that love the Lord, it never truly ends. Sure we put away our childish ways and we must be responsible in an adult world. That's not what I'm talking about...I'm talking about the child-heart within each of us, that God gave each, so that we might truly see, if we only would. Most of us were in a hurry to grow up, only to find that we wish we had enjoyed & lingered over our childhood a bit more. Yes, the years have passed & many seasons have come & gone since those childhood ones...but I do believe our spirits can still contain that same wonderment, awe, & innocence that He gave us from the start. It is my prayer that we each return to the child-heart within us. The child-heart that knew of a faith that was so simple & trusting. The child-heart that could so easily believe without seeing. "And He said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'"(Matthew 18:3) "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" (Matthew 19:14)

I read a biography of St. Francis of Assissi when I was yet a child. I have always loved this prayer since I read it then. I close in sharing this with you. May you go in peace on this glorious 1st day of autumn, with this prayer ever present on your own God-given child-heart:

(click on to enlarge)

"This is the day that the Lord hath made...we will rejoice & be glad in it!" ~ Psalms 118:24