Leaves Just Turning to Fall

Changing Seasons

Leaves Just Turning to Fall

Fall is here! the weather is cooling, the sun is going down way earlier, people are starting to wear sweaters again, soup is a way more popular meal, and pies will be consumed in abundance. Small changes, buit there are big ones coming. The leaves, the dormancy of this winter’s horizon.

Southern Oregon is gifted with four seasons and the changing of those seasons often signals changes in our being. The shift from summer to fall is a time of schedule change: School starting, sports picking back up, events being more common, and ministries around the church re-engaging. In this changing season, I am hoping and praying that more than the outward things are changing.

God is working in our hearts to bring change in us. As Christ followers, there are seasons of change that we go through in our walk with Him. Times of sorrow, or joy. Times of Struggle or celebration. Time when we feel like we are in the valley and times when we feel like we are on top of the mountain.

Each of these seasons is ripe for growth in our spiritual lives, as we walk with Jesus through these moments. What can we learn from Him? Again, my hope is that as things change in our lives, we are being changed by Jesus to more fully be the people He made us to be.


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Not Resolution, Re-Orientation

Many people like to come into the new year with some resolutions — often having to do with diet and exercise or some life goal. Many of those resolutions last for a short time but typically they lose the battle to entropy and are dropped by about March! This is why I think that framing our desire for change in a different way can be helpful.

Instead of resolutions, we need to reorient our lives. Most resolutions are things that go along with the way we have been doing life already. A reorientation is a bit more drastic, changing the direction of our lives. This may feel disruptive in the beginning, but if we continue on the same path with new baggage, we are still going to the same destination.
 
Reorientation, however, gives us a chance to shift not just the things we are carrying, but the destination of our journey. Where do I think we should orient ourselves? Towards Jesus. We should give His light and life the focus of our lives. The direction we want to go is wherever we can grow closer to Him.

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