Happy Monday. May your day be blessed with quiet moments of gently falling leaves in a breeze, amazing views of a palette of fall colors on a distant hillside, a tasty morsel of apple, pumpkin or cinnamon to quench your appetite, comforting softness to cuddle and warm you, and the fragrance of leaves gathering on a trail through the timber.
Those are the things I love about autumn. Beauty that is here and then so quickly gone. Too soon the colors evaporate into brown. The beauty is temporary.
For more than 15 years I spent a weekend each fall at a women's retreat in a beautiful campsite in rural Iowa. Called Metanoia, meaning 'change of heart,' it featured a spiritual leader, a time of fellowship with other women, and precious moments of personal connection with God. It became a greatly anticipated time of respite and renewal.
Then life got hectic with college, then full-time work, and grandchildren. Times change and new priorities nudge out old traditions. That's just the way life is. The one constant has been my relationship with God, no matter what fills my calendar.
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal," (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV).
Gracious God: awaken our senses today so we can take in all the beauty that surrounds us. We are aware that this season will soon be replaced by the next and in Iowa that means winter. As believers, we know that our suffering in this life is also temporary. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit so we can prove our faith to others. We thank You Lord, and we pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.
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