Lost In the Prairies.....Found by God

It is time.  We've been waiting for it all summer.  It came up on us quickly and didn't really announce itself very loudly.  I've been patient and haven't lost it waiting for it to come.  The leaves have started turning so there were signs of it's arrival.  The fall mums are out, a sign that it was inevitable. 

My kids have been looking at me a little differently this last week.  They weren't really as excited as I was of its arrival.  They were a little anticlimatic and in fact, just looked at me a little funny when I announced what was going on.  Can't they be as excited as I am?  Can't they understand the significance of the season?  Can't they see how important it is?

Yes, that's right it's Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte season!  It's very important.  More important than the first day of school.  I mean really, school is around for 10 months of the year.  The Pumpkin Spice Lattes are only around for a few months every year.  Last year Calgary won the right to have it a week in advance and I was lucky enough to be able to indulge before so many others.  I blame my old neighbour who introduced them to me 6 years ago.  Since I had one, I have to say they are my favourite.  There is no other flavour that compares.  I wish they would sell the pumpkin spice syrup so that I could hoard it and be able to drink it whenever I felt like it.  But who's kidding who.  It would never last.  I would start and then I wouldn't be able to stop.   Then I would be sad, waiting for the next fall to come so that I could indulge again. 

I always get a little giddy anyway this time of year.  It starts to feel like fall when I hear that pumpkin spice lattes are around and fall is my favourite season.  I love the sounds, smells, flavours and colours of fall.  It's nice to be able to sit, sipping my latte and watch the change going on before my eyes.  I know technically that January 1st is New Years Day, but for me the new year commences in September.  I think its the fault of the school year.  Everything started in the fall:  school, sports, clubs, etc...  We all got new shoes; new clothes, new books, new teachers, and new friends every fall.  As a result this is when I tend to start new diets, health regimes, organization concepts.  All while sipping on my pumpkin spice lattes. 

This fall definitely has a lot of changes for me.  My princess is now in the intermediate elementary grades.  She can try out for extracurricular activities.  Middleman starts grade 1 and is in school full time.  Even though he went to kindergarten full time the last few months, its different.  New expectations and a new aide to assist him.  

There are even changes for little Sam as he is starting preschool.  He will be away from me for 6 hours a week.  I am anxious about this.  Is he ready?  Will he be able to handle such structured time?  Will this be beneficial for him?  Will he be able to fit in?  Will mommy be able to handle this without climbing the walls of the local coffee shop when he is out of her sight?   I am trusting God in this and all situations.  He knows a lot about changes.  He made the seasons and this is a new season in every aspect of the word.  I can either trust or falter.   I can praise Him no matter what or I can live in fear of what may or may not happen.  

I recently read a quote from someone that went "I wish people were as excited about Jesus as they were pumpkin spice lattes."  I know I am excited about both of them.  I mean God did create everything didn't He, even pumpkin spice lattes. 

I love fall.  Fall is my favourite season and today is the first day of Fall.  

I was talking to a friend who isn't as excited about fall as I am.  She says it's just a reminder that winter is coming.  But I embrace it.  Fall is a time of change.  A time where God begins a time of Selah in the world.  It's a time where the colours of fire come out.

It's a time to crunch the leaves with our feet.

It's a time to get in the house and smell the baking going on.

It's a time of getting together with friends and sharing stories over a lovely pumpkin latte.

It's a time where kids go back to school and open doors to their imaginations.

Yes, Fall is my favourite season.  I will embrace it and rejoice in it.

Come and link up with some great ladies and celebrate this beautiful changing season.

Fall is mommy's season.  It is is the time of year that I actually love to do yard work and don't complain about the blisters.  Our family tradition is to rake the leaves and put them in pumpkin bags to decorate the yard.  The kids enjoy helping to rake the leaves and they especially enjoy jumping in mommy's piles.   This is the first fall that I get to jump in the leaves with all 3 kids. Sam is already fascinated by the leaves and the sounds they make when you walk on them. 

I've always enjoyed Fall.  I always felt like it was new years, probably because of the start of school.  I was always excited when school started.  New class.  New teacher.  New friends.  Everything fresh.  It was appropriate that I professed my faith in the Fall, a continuation of the newness I felt about my life.  It  also seems appropriate that Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, falls normally in September.  It is almost like God telling each of us that this is the New Year and to celebrate it.  

Some people think of Fall as the beginning of death as all the plants start to die and the leaves fall to the ground.  I don't.  I think it is the beginning of the promise.  The promise of new life in the bulbs we plant in the Fall and the sprouts that begin in the spring.  Just like Jesus.  He died on the cross to give each of us new life.  We embrace that death for the promise of the new life He gives each of us.  Yes there will be times when He seems far away and we are cold in the "winter" of our trials.  But if we hold on to the promise of Jesus, in the "spring" we will sprout new life and new possibilities.