Autumn

And suddenly, there is change in the air. The winds pick up, the leaves turn colors. Something is happening. The temperature drops, the boots come out, and the sun disappears behind foggy clouds.

No more shorts and flip flops. No more sunshine and pool parties. Change is in the air.

Down in the Houston, TX area, Autumn doesn't follow a calendar. It comes and goes when it pleases. Some days it's here, and then it leaves and let's Summer return for a couple days before it suddenly makes another appearance.

Sometimes the temperature drop is a welcome change. Pulling out your fall sweaters and getting ready for the holidays... Autumn can be exciting.

But sometimes the lack of sunshine, the cold rain and crisp wind can be an unwelcome change. You are stuck indoors. Your immune system suffers and you end up with one cold after another. Sometimes change is bad.

Are you in an Autumn season of life? Are you experiencing the Houston version of Fall, where change just keeps coming? Back and forth. Back and forth. Sometimes good change. Sometimes bad change.

Pardon me for sounding like a Dr. Seuss book here, but sometimes that's how life feels. There is so much tossing to and fro.

I don't know many people that really like change. I mean, we enjoy our comfort zones. Our routines. Our normal. At the very least, we don't like negative changes.

One day you're just working and it's a normal day. The next, you're figuring out how you can help the family of a coworker who passed away. Suddenly, there is change in the air.

One day you're enjoying the beach and the waves with family and friends, and you blink and that weekend you are planning a funeral for your mom. Change.

If you are feeling these winds, rest assured you are not alone. We each face times in our lives where our normal disappears and a new normal comes in it's place. Just like the rain in early fall brings about cooler temperatures that remind you winter is coming.

Sometimes our Autumn winds of life are there to warn us that hard times may be coming.

So how do we not only survive the changes, but thrive in them?

Autumn is a season of preparing for what's coming. The trees prepare for winter by "shutting" down in a sense, which causes the leaves to change colors and fall off the branches. Birds get ready to migrate to warmer temperatures. Other animals gather food for the coming months.

God put all of it in motion. And our lives resemble this very thing from time to time. If He created it this way, then He is the one that can get you through it. Maybe the change in your life is His way of preparing you for some hard times coming up... and more importantly, the Spring time that will follow.

I know that's been the case for me. If I told you my story, it would be one of ups and downs and God in the midst of it holding me close and teaching me hard lessons I needed to learn in order to move forward with the next season of life. He has a way of doing that, you know? Using what may be painful experiences of ours to help prepare us for an opportunity in the future.

If you are feeling the crisp, cool air of change, rest assured that Winter won't last forever. Spring will come again.