The Sun’s Still Shining Behind Those Clouds…
Category Archives: Autumn
Refresh, Renew, Regenerate
As I watch the final leaves fall from the trees in our garden – after a windstorm last night – I pondered on the reason for the season changes.
Some people view this as a sad time of year, but actually, it has some amazing benefits.
Three words come to mind:
- Refresh
- Renew
- Regenerate
Leaves, which, during the warmer times of year, were an asset (providing needed photosynthesis and coverage), during the winter become a liability when light is less, and could likely freeze with snow, becoming too heavy and breaking the branches.
If the leaves aren’t shed once a year, the tree could be seriously damaged, or even die.
If they don’t fall from the trees, we might be looking at dead leaves next season.
If the old leaves are not removed, there is no room for new growth.
Dropping the leaves allows the tree to solidify it’s core. It’s going through a needed cycle.
Sometimes we need to shed things in our lives that, although at seasons are an asset, if we hang on to them at later times, become a liability.
There are things that are core to our lives, and there are things that are extraneous. And at various seasons in our lives, these could change.
What is core in your life? And what are you hanging on to, or adding to your life, that is weighing you down?
Sometimes we need to take a seasonal look at what needs to change, what habits and other things need to be shed from our lives, so that we can make room for new growth.
If we don’t shed some necessary things occasionally, the winds of life may facilitate it for us. It seems to me that being a proactive participant in this is preferable!
Take some time this season to be refreshed, renewed, and regenerated. You’ll find the next season will be so much better.
Peace Like a River
Hasn’t the world seemed a little crazy lately? Turmoil and trouble everywhere on the international and domestic scene.
While we view the news headlines with furrowed brows, we crave peace, don’t we? Not just around us, but inside us also.
Did you know that God has promised that you can have “peace like a river”?
Who doesn’t enjoy relaxing under the shade of a tree on a late summer’s day, breathing in the fresh breeze, and gazing at a river’s gentle ripples? Beautiful. Peaceful.
Rivers are continuously flowing. Regardless of activity around, or in, them, they continue on. Nothing seems to adversely affect them, water flows on, either in a gentle meander or a spirited over-the-rocks forward movement.
Perhaps that’s why God used the metaphor “peace like a river” to describe the peace He has for us. Isaiah 48:18 indicates that we can have this flowing peace, if we listen to, and obey, the voice of God: “Oh that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river…”
So many people spend their lives searching for peace – in all the wrong places. Craving peace, they search everywhere BUT God to find it, not understanding that a troubled world doesn’t have the capability to give them peace.
However the source of peace is found in the Prince of Peace Himself, as Jesus promised: “My peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” – John 14:27.
What I love about God’s peace is that regardless of circumstances, we can have a quietness inside, a peace that continuously flows “like a river.” The world may be in turmoil, but we are not.
Want peace? It’s yours if you’ll ask for it. Seek it from the Prince of Peace, and sit on the river bank of His love and grace today.
Autumn Serenade
When like a tune, late afternoon
Sunlight plays on roses
And crisp, fall air, becomes a stair
To walk from summer’s poses.
And with the fade, a serenade
To mark the changing season
The sound of flight, as birds alight,
Warmth and south, their reason.
As colors change and leaves arrange
In such extravaganza
You’ll hear and see, a melody,
That creates September’s stanza.
As nights draw in, the gentle rain
May soothe the soul and heart
And harvest gains of fruit-filled lanes,
Play a harmonizing part.
Embrace the autumn serenade
Hear what others miss!
Let sweet notes of fall, fill your soul
Raise your cheek to nature’s kiss!
~ Kim Batson
Sometimes I wax a bit poetic and this first week of autumn seems to be one of those times. My hope is that through these few verses you would take a moment to pause and reflect on the gift of God we are given in the changing seasons. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
If you prefer to hear this poem spoken, with visuals attached, check out the video version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pkJSmRtRoU
Autumn Serenade – Video version
>
A short poem for this first week of autumn – my hope is that through these few verses you would take a moment to pause and reflect on the gift of God we are given in the changing seasons. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
~ Kim Batson, Joy on the Journey
On Facebook? Follow us on http://facebook.com/joyonthejourney
On Twitter? Follow us on http://twitter.com/thejoyjourney
Joy On The Journey 