Shifting Seasons

I LOVE Fall.

Really, I can’t think of enough ways to say this. And frankly, my husband wishes that I would stop trying to figure out new phrases to express my love affair with Autumn. He’s tired of hearing about it.

Last week, I warned him I was going to pull out the Fall decorations and beautify the house. He made some sort of vague response about the ridiculousness of putting out pumpkins when the temperature was almost 100 degrees. Then, wisely, he retreated to another room…far away from the ensuing decorating/rearranging madness.

I wasn’t going to wait a single day longer to prep for my favorite Season’s arrival. I didn’t care about the scorching temperatures, or the fact that it was barely the first of September and no where near the “official” beginning of Autumn. That’s because I wait through three other long phases of the year just to get to this one.

So what exactly does this have to do with anything—other than the fact that my obsessive love of all things yellow, orange, red, and/or pumpkin-like might indicate a need for some therapy?

Honestly, I’m not sure.

But I started thinking the other day that I don’t anticipate changes in my “life seasons” with nearly that kind of enthusiasm. On the contrary, I would go so far as to say that I detest changes—especially ones in my life. When I feel God pulling me one way, perhaps gently prompting me to prepare for a shift in the path my life is taking, I drag my feet, and sometimes pitch a fit. I like to be comfortable. Safe. Familiar.

And inevitably, when the changes come, I feel miserable at first. Because I haven’t been prayerful…or cooperative. Like a spoiled child, I’ve ignored the wisdom of my Father and have made the transition difficult.

But I wonder…

If I attacked everything in life with the same sort of enthusiasm as I do for things that I enjoy or that interest me (say, like, Fall?), I think it’d be much easier. Easier to glide from one place in life to another. From one day to another, even. It’s kind of a sobering thought to realize that, in hindsight, the bad periods in my life might not have been so terrible if my attitude were a little more joyful. Or trusting.

So, as I set out literally the 531st pumpkin figurine in my house, I’m thinking I might try to do better on prepping for other—personal—changes…upcoming Seasons in life. Who knows, maybe I’ll actually enjoy the change if I’m not too busy grumbling about it.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11