Fall Reflections

The season has changed since I last wrote. Summer heat has given way to the chill of crisp mornings and vibrant afternoons. Rainy Sundays, and warm fireside chats with friends wrapped in blankets and clutching hot drinks.

It's my favorite season, and this week is one of my favorite weeks. And as I think of all that is going right and all that is going wrong, I can't help but think that life is so full. So full of complication. My heart is on a rollercoaster of great joy as I see people around me deepen their relationships with our Savior and feel deep disappointment in my hopes denied and my dreams set aside for the reality of the fallenness of life in a sinful world. Consequences of sin, and consequences of the ebb and flow of dreams realized and dreams dying.

Today, I'm in more of the sad space. A disappointment realized again. Wondering. Bemusing. And being faced with the reality of grief. Grief isn't always about a person. It's sometimes the loss of a community or the loss of a dream.

But far be it from me to fixate only on the grief. Life is a kaleidoscope of emotion, and with it, I remember the joy of earlier this week. And the hope of community this weekend. I have fellowship, teatime, and fireside chats again to look forward to soon. Of worship and remembering. Of rallying in intercessory prayer and gratitude. God has blessed me with a new community in the midst of losing the old. Oh, if only I can steady my heart from coveting what I don't have and realize the incredible beauty and gratitude that can be found in what I do.

I comfort my heart with this verse this morning - that God will accomplish what He says He will regardless of the reality of my circumstances at the moment.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10-11

Candle Scent HINT* - Our secret candle scent is based on a citrus fruit. This fruit can be yellow or lime green. The fruit has a bumpy outer texture Know what it is?