The beginning of each season is my favorite and by the time the next season rolls around, I think that one is the most special.  Living in eastern New Mexico is exciting.  Someone has said, “if you don’t like the weather here, wait a while and it will change.”

            A beautiful season is upon us.  I love the crispy evenings and the tinge of coolness at daybreak.  The golden hues and scarlet brilliance of displayed beauty one more time warms my heart.   Fall is when God’s paintbrush touches the landscape with spectacular beauty.  As I go about my yard, I am tempted to say, “I’m going to miss you.  Soon your leaves will be gone and your branches will be bare.”   I will be looking out my window on a cold winter day and it will appear that all life is gone, but I know when spring comes it will simply burst with new life.

            So it is with that loved one who is laid to rest.  God’s children’s death is “precious in His sight” (Psalm 116:15).  In God ‘s timing the dead will be brought back to life again.  1 Corinthians 15:35 explains the process:  “When you put a seed into the ground it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it ‘dies’ first.  And when the green shoot comes up out of the seed, it is very different from the seed you first planted.”  (TLB)

            “In the same way, our earthly bodies which die and decay are different from the bodies we shall have when we come back to life again, for they will never die”  (1 Corinthians 15:42 TLB).

            Whether it is fall in its beauty, winter in its challenge, spring in its promise or summer in its sunshine, the point to be made is to enjoy the seasons of the year in the seasons of our lives.

            When we were small, it seems we could hardly wait to grow up, learn to drive, graduate from high school, college, get married, and have children, grandchildren, and retirement.  I wonder in all of that if we took the time to enjoy the trip.

            I lost my aunt of ninety-one years.  Gathering her things at the rest home brought a profound realization of life.  Someone else is living in her house and someone else is driving her car.  Her possessions filled a cardboard box with a few family pictures, some clothing and cards from former friends she had saved during her time of residence.  I brought the box home, put her legal papers in it and placed it in the storeroom.

            “Real life” is not found in possessions.  Real life is found in knowing Jesus, accepting His gift of salvation, walking out our faith in obedience to Him and reaching out to a hurting world.

            Live today and live it well.  It will make every day a memory of joy.  It will make every tomorrow a day of promise.  Today can only be lived today.  Find the beauty in it.

God’s wonderful surprises are just waiting to be discovered. 

            It’s the power of the cross!  Oh, that we, as mortals, could comprehend.  Would we not be caught up in joyful song moment by moment?  To think that Jesus has conquered death for all those who will receive Him.  Is it not the greatest news ever known to mankind?  To gain understanding of this wonderful news of God reaching down to man and granting the choice for eternal life is blessed knowledge indeed!

            Whatever season of life you are in, it can be beautiful.  Live it with joy.  Savor each moment.

            “He has made everything beautiful in its time…”  (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV).