autumn. that's a cool word.

everything seems new and yet familiar these days. i mean, i am 23 and have been doing this seasons changing thing for as long as i have been on this planet in this midwest region of the unuited states...

but there is a newness i have encountered in life this last three weeks where it feels like im a new born baby...like, things are alive and in full color and everything is stiring curiosity and adventure in my spirit. it's cool. i'm in school full time..learning alot day by day, week by week. and my Teacher is the best in all the world.

there is this under lining comfort in the changes that are happening. this knowing that my Daddy has got me exactly where He wants me and everything is going to be alright. my faith is growing. my trust is increasing. my passion is burning in my chest, my passion to know God, His ways and His word and His Spirit that speaks all the time. i want to hear Him. i want to feel Him hovering in between my shoulder blades...the weight of glory to rest on me.

it's beautiful this time of year. there is cold with the promise of warmth, death as a promise of new life. it happens every fall, the warm days turn brisk with biting winds and snow will soon follow, the leaves whither and fall to the ground and the branches are stripped naked. skies turn grey. animals hybernate. the winter coats come out. dormancy. there is this urgency to protect ourselves, our skin from the cold air, our families from the seasons colds, and our hearts from loneliness. we seek the warmth that hearths promise and the flames from a stoked fire can produce not just for our flesh, but for our souls. and the idea behind the fire is that we are with others being warmed together, sharing the bond of our human limits, the same desire that we all share as winter approaches to be warm..to be connected. to be loved.

and we are. we are not alone. there is love all around. there is true caring happening everywhere i look. i am drawn lately to the scenes of young infants nestled closely to their mothers chests, little ones tugging at daddy's jacket to be picked up and carried, couples hand in hand, or the woman leaning in closely to her man as he sheilds her from the wind as they walk. brothers and sisters in church kneeling and praying together, bearing one anothers burdens and going boldly before the throne of grace.

yes, this is what my eyes see. and long to see more of: the hungry being fed, the naked being clothed, the lonely being loved, the sick being healed, the broken and forlorn being mended and accepted. this is the Christ i know. this is the gospel i carry. and this is what i want my life to look like.

i trust the wisest way, i trust the Giver of wisdom. mmm. and it's good. this trust feels like the feeling i get around that hearth, the fire blazing, laughs being shared and warmth between souls exchanged. that's what trust feels like...it's safe.

:)

how's that for an update?