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Autumn: A Season for Letting Go, Making Room

  • Sharon Beth Brani Crosswalk.com Contributor
  • Updated Oct 13, 2010
Autumn: A Season for Letting Go, Making Room

 

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven... Ecclesiastes 3:1                                           

I love Autumn. The sight of colorful countrysides. The smell of burning campfires and roasting marshmallows. The sound of dropping nuts. The taste of crunchy apples and freshly popped popcorn. Hayrides.  Pumpkin Farms. The list could go on and on. It all holds a beauty which moves my spirit at a deep, personal level.

 

As my daughters and I celebrate the changing season, we learn from Him. Our experience of collecting leaves a few years ago highlighted for us the importance of letting go of the old in order to make room for the new.

 

Outside our home there are a number of trees which change color with the first dipping of temperatures.  I'm not sure which one of my girls enjoys trying to find the most colorful leaves more.

 

Small piles of those leaves often find their way into our home and onto the dining room table. We admire them while arranging them in colorful patterns.  One time while we were picking out the prettiest leaf, I overheard this conversation.

 

"I like this one. It's so beautiful."

 

"Hmm, that is pretty. How about this one."

 

A pause followed.

 

"I wonder why the leaves have to fall.  If the trees could only keep their leaves, wouldn't they look nice?"

 

"Yes and then we wouldn't have those old brown leaves all over the place."

 

"Yeah, I wish God could have made them stay on the trees."

 

"But what about Spring?"

 

Another long pause.

 

"When Spring comes the new leaves come out. What would happen then?"

 

Immediately my mind began to picture a tree loaded with colorful leaves meanwhile trying to put out new little green leaves. No, there wasn't room for that. Those new leaves needed room to grow. The old had to be removed.

 

My mind wandered back to some losses we had experienced. Like leaves they dropped from our lives. And although we accepted the changes, in our humanness we easily would have placed them back in our lives. But life moves forward. Always making room for the new.

 

Could it be that our Heavenly Father knows our longing to resist change and keep things just the same? Could it also be that He knows how very much we will also appreciate the new growth and fresh opportunities?

 

Yes, we can trust Him.

 

So as I watch these leaves drop one by one I will lift my heart in praise to Him. God is only making room for the gifts which He is preparing for us in the future. Spring always comes.

 

So this year as we experience the glory of Autumn we remember that sometimes it is important to let go in order to make room for the new.  We can trust the greatest Lover to care for our families. We can rely upon Him to keep showing us His grace throughout our whole lives.

October 13, 2010

Sharon Beth Brani lives in Culpeper, VA..Her greatest treasures are her Lord and her two adopted daughters. She is a licensed professional counselor and a specialized adoption coach working with adoptive families. She helps the adoptive parent and their children to maximize the adoption process and to enjoy a lifetime of committed love and growth in a healthful family situation. Her website is www.heartprintsadoption.com. She can be reached at sharon@heartprintsadoption.com.