Seasons Change

(James as the ring-bearer (ring-biter?) at a country wedding in the mountains.)

No matter what’s going on in our lives, one thing is certain:

CHANGE.

Everything on earth is only temporary.

temporary

1547, from L. temporarius "of seasonal character, lasting a short time," from tempus (gen. temporis) "time, season."

All things on earth are only for a season.

This phrase occurs multiple times throughout scripture: “And it came to pass in process of time…”

The word “time” appears 888 times in the NIV version of the Bible.

Times and seasons are of great spiritual significance, from Alpha to Omega.

 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Times and seasons are in a constant state of flux, whether perceptible or not. Change is constantly occurring, even when it seems as if everything is static. The river of time continues to flow, even when it appears to trickle or go underground.

I have a love/hate relationship with Change.

Sometimes, Change is uncomfortable. Exhausting and emotional. Sometimes, it is absolutely wrenching.

Other times, change comes as a welcome relief.

When you are “hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down” on every front (II Corinthians 4:8-9), change is heavenly. When things are heating up to the boiling point, change is a balm for the burn.

Fall fell suddenly this year.

It was the hottest summer on record in Athens, GA.

Summer got a jump-start in May, and dawdled around until well into September. It stayed stupefyingly hot and muggy for weeks and weeks on end. I told anyone who’d listen that, in my opinion, the weather was absolutely Unacceptable. Intolerable. Disgusting.

But one morning, I woke up and went outside to see this in my driveway:

A front had blown in during the night, dropping the temperature 20 degrees by dawn. 

The thermometer has gone up and down since then, but I cherish that initial image. It has served as a reminder during recent challenges.

Hard times may seem to be never-ending.

But when you are at your wit’s end… when you just can’t take any more… a welcome wind of change can breeze in overnight.

Help arrives… just in the nick of time.

Relief.

“At just the right time.” (Romans 5:6)

In God’s time.

***************

Nature’s cyclical changes provide a visual representation of eternal truths. From death comes life. Over and over and over again. 


I rejoice particularly in the changes Autumn brings. I've always been a Fall Freak. As far back as I can remember, there's  been something particularly exciting to me about this time of year. The excitement is tinged with a little element of fear that only intensifies it. Although leaves are falling and dying, it feels like a time of new beginnings. A new school year. New colors. Football games. Fires. Sweaters. Family. Holidays. Change.


I wonder why it is that so many teenagers fall in love in the fall?


My childhood memories are laced with the smells of autumn in the North Georgia mountains. Although I grew up in a (relatively) cosmopolitan college town, my roots are in the mountains. My ancestors moved there from Virginia just after the Revolutionary War. Many descendents have never left. My grandmother grew up in Blairsville, near Brasstown Bald. Her father, a brilliant man, was a Baptist minister. He was a "circuit" preacher who rode around the mountains of North Georgia so that remote areas might still have the benefit of clergy. "Nenie" never tired of going back to where her heart belonged, so every fall we grandchildren were treated to extensive forays into the gentle, green mountains of Georgia. Somedays, we all just piled into some antique vehicle without seatbelts or a maximum capacity limit, and "went to ride." 


Although I'm grateful for the wonderful year-round weather of southern California, I do sometimes miss the change of seasons when I'm there. So I was thrilled that we were able to coordinate things so that Katherine, James, and I were all able to be a part of a family wedding in the North Georgia mountains last weekend. (We all need to appreciate our roots... even sophisticated little "Angelenos" like James.)

To see more of our family’s fall pictures, click here:

(The problem is, once it starts, you can't turn it off! Just click out of everything after you've seen it once. Or you'll go crazy. Best if viewed "fullscreen," then click 'esc')