The fall colors have really been spectacular these past few weeks…and today those colors were even more stunning as the gloomy fog that had been hanging around for weeks finally cleared and the sun came out. I love living far enough north to see these beautiful colors as the seasons change, but my oldest child reminded me the other day, “they are beautiful mom, but they are also dying.”

While walking the dog on one of those foggy, gloomy days, I noticed that the beautiful leaves are not in the trees anymore, but are creating piles on the ground below the trees as they fall. It is such a beautiful, yet bittersweet reminder that life has a beginning and an ending.

I was thinking about the words from Ecclesiastes that tell us there is a time and a season for every purpose under heaven–a time to be born and a time to die…there are other items I might add to the list–a time to leave and a time to be the one left.

Staying and Going

I have been the Pastor of Sumner FCC for 8+ years now and never in my youth did I imagine staying in one place for this long. In my younger years, I was used to being the one doing the leaving or the moving on…now I am the one who witnesses a lot of the coming and goings. It is not always easy when things change. It is not always easy when we moved into a new season of life. There are things that we have to let go of and new ways we have to be open to God’s Spirit in our homes, our work, our churches, our spirits and our physical bodies that are ever changing as the seasons come and go.

When I read Ecclesiastes I am reminded that these things happen as they should happen–that there is a time and purpose for everything. That thought in and of itself might feel hollow and empty were it not for the Word that comes after it…”Come to me all you who are weary” Matthew 11: 28-30

For those of us stuck in the sometimes gloom of the Northwest late fall and winter (and for anyone else feeling a little pensive today), these words bring comfort…that Jesus is there with us in all seasons of life…to give us rest.

Blessings
Rochelle+