"Warm Sunshine on a Fall Day"

James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

Fall days around here aren't always the prettiest. Often, we find ourselves walking to classes under a gloomy sky, and in temperatures that are just slightly too cold. Today is a day very much like that. As we near the end of Fall, it is very likely that a snow storm could be coming soon, and as I picked a blessing to write about today, this one seemed especially appealing. As I think back on this Fall, it was quite beautiful: not too much rain, clear skies, comfortably warm. Now, we are beginning to find ourselves at the end of such a beautiful season. Will we still be willing to write blessings on our wall in regards to the weather? Will we still want to acknowledge that God is in control of the skies, and that knows what He is doing?

Thinking about Fall got my thinking about all the seasons. Winter is typically long, dark, cold. Spring is fresh, new, alive. Summer is hot, bright, sunny. But what is Fall? I often associate Fall with change. The leaves are changing colors, people are going off to school, and the lazy days of summer have changed into the fast-paced routine of life itself.

The girls who write blessings in the bathroom have been experiencing a Fall to remember. Change has been one of the only constants we have seen this semester. In the midst of changing majors, the changing relationship statuses, and the changing weather, life is happening. Life that God planned. Life that God loves. Life that God directs. Change, itself, is a gift. God knows what He's doing, even when we don't. Our world, our changes, our lives are in His steady, unchanging hands.

Dear Creator of the Universe, help me to trust you. You are in control. While my life is changing, you remain the same. Help me praise you through all life brings. In my precious Savior's name, Amen.