Raining Leaves

Genesis 8:22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

Being a farmer’s daughter and granddaughter, I learned to love all of the seasons. As a farmer, each season comes with its own set of opportunities and challenges. Winter is usually set aside for maintenance and repair, planning for the next crops, and hopefully some shorter work hours. But, the cold can make it difficult when the water can freeze in the animals’ troughs, pipes can burst, and breaking loose nuts and bolts is a challenge when everything is frozen. With Spring's arrival, everything gets kicked into high gear. It’s go, go, go till you get the crops in the ground. As most would say, it’s sun-up till sun-down. Before you know it, Summer rolls around. It is what it is and it's still sun-up till sun-down. This is the time when crops take a lot of TLC. You have to keep the weeds under control, make sure there is fertilizer/plant food to keep them healthy and growing, do pest control, monitor the ever-present heat, and be ready to gather your crops at just the right time.

All farmers become weather men. They have to know when to water or when to get ready to do some ditching. Praying that the approaching storms don’t flatten the crops or beat them into the ground with a hail storm. Too much rain and the plants drown. Too little rain and they shrivel up and die. But, the sound of a summer thunderstorm will make you pause and be still if only for a short while. Fall is the end of the growing season; a time to finish all that needs doing before cold weather arrives, and gather in the last of the crops.

Fall is my favorite. There are days that are warm and sunny so I can still run around in shorts and flip-flops. There are days that are milder and you can open the windows and doors and let the breezes blow through. Then you have days that are chilly and you just want to grab a hot drink and sit by the fire. One of my most favorite parts of fall is the changing of the leaves. Days get shorter and all of the green starts to turn into gold, and orange and red and purple and every color in between. It is magnificent seeing all of the beautiful colors mixed in with the evergreens. But, when the leaves start “raining”, I just want to sit and watch. Hearing the wind blow through the trees and watching the leaves spin and twirl as they fall to the ground is mesmerizing and peaceful.

It is also a great reminder of WHO is in control. God is ever present in each season but for me, the fall makes me stop and take more notice. Genesis 8:22 is His promise to us. “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” It has not changed since the beginning of time. Think about that. The seasons have not changed since the beginning of time. Regardless of what we hear on TV, the seasons have NOT changed. They still cycle through in the exact same order. What a comfort to know that we can use our own eyes and ears to see what God is doing. See that his promises are being kept. May you stop and enjoy watching God’s promises play out right before your eyes as it rains leaves, blanketing the ground in preparation for the winter. If fall isn’t your favorite, then still find time during any other of His glorious seasons to pause and thank Him for His promises.