It Is Fall

**UPDATE**  Suzi's doing amazing post-op from her surgery.  THANK YOU for praying for her.  The cancer was contained just to her kidney, not in any lymph nodes nor her bladder.  No chemo necessary for her!  Check out Free Peace link below for the original posting.  Praise God!

It is fall!  The weather cools down, colors change outside, and believe it or not, there is a sense of anticipation.  For some it is dreaded anticipation of the cold, ice, and wind.  For others, it is a welcome anticipation of the beauty and transformation that winter brings. 

It is fall!  In my childhood years fall meant a couple of things:  visiting Grandma's garden of glorious mum plants in oh so many colors; pheasant hunting with my Dad and I even have a faint memory of duck hunting in the rain with my Dad; freezing corn, canning tomatoes and making dill pickles with Mom. 

It is fall!  Why did God decide to make color for us?  Why did He decide that the leaves should change colors in the fall?  I just love that about Him.  In fact, I celebrate leave colors in my house.  Would you believe I bought window cling-ons (okay, so they are really called window clings but I like to say cling-ons) of fall leaves!    This week it rained almost every day but what fun to glance out the deck doors and see some color coming from my "cling-ons"!

It is fall!  My backyard is full of fall change.  My flowers have, for the most part, turned brown.  The pansies love the cool weather so they are beautiful!  The apple tree branches are drooping in bounty.  Here is a snapshot of a branch taken in the rain this week.  The apples are Honeycrisp and are really good.  Oh, and the truth...I have MORE THAN A LUG of apples to deal with!  Can you hear the freezer calling:  apple pies, apple muffins, applesauce...come..come..come fill me up!  The raspberry patch has been picked and the berries frozen for jam.  Our tomatoes have been harvested and made into spaghetti sauce for the winter months.  How I will miss a bacon-lettuce-and real tomato sandwich in the coming months!

It is fall!  A time of routines and reflection.  The routine of school has been once again established and with it homework, school projects and play dates.  A time of reflection around the great summer we've had and even reflecting on what is ahead. 

It is fall!  Life totally resolves around football for many people.  This year I joined two fantasy football leagues.  Oh what fun it was to watch the face of my next door neighbor as he really, really tried not to smirk as I said I'd be on his wife's GIRLS ONLY FF team.  And then when I asked him if I could have Fran Trankenton on my team to watch him really, really, really try not to say, oh forget it...you really don't want to be on this team.  It was a great moment when I admitted that I knew Fran Tarkenton didn't play football anymore and that I'd have to settle for Brad Johnson (just kidding). 

It is fall!  A time of Anticipation.  What anticipation group did you put yourself into as you read my first paragraph?   Dread or welcoming?  Seriously...where are you at?  We've certainly seen our share of gloomy, rainy days this week and that can have an affect on anticipation.  If winter is all about getting busy and caught up in the preparations for Thanksgiving and Christmas, all about ice, snow and being cold, then, I'd have to admit that dread could be a word that I would choose for fall.  There is more, however.  Thank God there is more!  Can you close your eyes right now and picture that first snowfall where everything is blanketed in purity?  Can you picture a quiet winter's night with the moon gleaming on tranquility?  And yes, can you imagine that first step outside where it is so cold you can hardly catch your breath!  What an awesome, incredible God to create four seasons for us!  I welcome fall.  I anticipate winter.  I love my boots, coat, gloves and Cuddle Duds, too.  I anticipate a glorious next few months as we transition into winter.  I anticipate preparing for the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I anticipate preparing for weeks of celebrating the Birth of My Savior.  I anticipate school Christmas programs, needing to put on my boots, taking a bath to try to warm up, sitting in cold hockey rinks cheering Kidlet Three on in his games, baking my pear pies, looking through the seed catalogs, meeting for hot Chai tea with friends, and oh so much more. 

It is fall.  Welcome it!  Embrace it!  Enjoy it! 

An Amazing God made fall for us!