I’ve been watching the changing of seasons closely this year. So much so that I think I noticed the very first day there was a red leaf on the tree in our backyard. Since that day, they have been increasing in number and decreasing in altitude as they fall to the ground below. The tree is still mostly green. If I hadn’t felt the crispness in the air, I might believe it was just a fluke. But the season is definitely changing, a fact that is supported by the looming autumnal equinox.

This weekend officially rings in the beginning of my favorite time of year. When the air gets colder and the colors of fall show up in earnest, I feel like I come to life. By the time we shift to winter, I am ready for the freeze… for things to turn white… for the silence to reset things.

Last year at this time, I was all the way around the world. I was on a different continent, experiencing a whole new reality, which was an amazing gift. When I got home, the change had occurred, and life had moved on. Being able to be present this year to watch the shift happen has also been a gift.

Seasonal changes bring me so much hope these days. While there is part of them that brings to mind the marching on of life, there is also a growing part of me that is able to find rest in the steadiness of the change.

I may not always know which leaf will turn first or where it will fall. It might be impossible to predict when the cold winds will empty the tree or when the first snow will come. But I can hold onto the fact that these changes are coming. As surely as my next breath, they will continue until they don’t. I don’t have to predict them, control them, or even always like them… but I can depend on them.

And in the consistent changes, I can love forward steadily… without having to predict, control, or always like what that looks like. I can just love and rest in the reality that the change will come. The change from the heat of summer to the coolness of fall. The change from the youth of yesterday to the maturity of tomorrow. The change from the weight of conformity to the lightness of authenticity.

Change is hope.

To everything, there is a season, friends. Whatever this season holds for you… breathe in, breathe out… hold onto hope, and take note of the change.

I love you!