The wind whispers in the leaves, “Change is coming, can you hear it?” Autumn breezes softly blow and colors subtly change. The wind scatters the few fallen leaves like my thoughts. That is when I remember the Holy Spirit moves like the wind, a gentle reminder to me that He is here, moving, working, the source of power in this weak human flesh.

Autumn, previously my favorite season, is now a bittersweet season. I love the colors, the cinnamon-baked apples, the crunchy leaves. But the realization is that winter is just ahead, the season I most dread. I must prepare mentally for months of cold and bitter winds and inches and feet of snow on the ground (usually for weeks). I brace myself for the “attack of the cold.”

As light breezes blow outdoors, I reflect how small I am… and how big God is and He holds me in His palm… that He flings my sin from me as far as the east is from the west… that the sun is shining one more day, and I have one more day, one more day. to make it count, to do the right thing, to do the better thing, to do the next thing that is good. To choose. What a difference it makes to consider if this is my last day on earth… how would I act differently? What would I choose? What would I do?

The limbs nodding outdoors remind me to surrender all things and questions into His capable hands.

But for today, I get to choose. To choose Him. To choose a different way. A better way. My prayer today: God help me to choose the better way!

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edited from the archives