End of Autumn and thanks

The Lord gives and takes away
May his name be praised

Thanksgiving and autumn. Crisp air and smell of dry leaves rushes through my being. I wish to live life, knowing only He gave it to me.

I lost a friend today. Yet instead of crying I am laughing. My heart full of thanks no depressed thoughts could enter it. The month of October zoomed past as the leaves transformed from green to gold and red to crisp and dead. Such is life...we are all like those leaves. We are born as innocent children, green and fresh...kind and loving. We then grow and experience changes us...transforms our colors. Sometimes we are led astray into heartbreak, loneliness, and anger. We give up too easily and the innocence of our childhood, the freshness of our faces crumbles away to sterness, hardness of heart, and wrinkles under our eyes. We live through days of happiness and immense sadness...it is God's will. We walk through life, we love others but they leave us. One day they WILL all dissapear like vapor. No matter how much we cling to each other, we stand alone. Yet, looking up at the outline of autumn trees against the blue sky, I know we are not alone. Behind the blue of the sky there is an ever protective eye always ready to embrace a lost soul. He is with us. He gives and takes away. Yet the promise of his love is real and eternal.

She walked down the leafy path to Rutgers, her thin black coat wrapped around her, gloves,wool hat and fuzzy grey scarf. A warm cup of coffee steams in her hand. She breathes in the smell of dry leaves mingled with the hint of chocolate and cinamon.

She saw the world through eyes that looked beyond what was in front of them. She saw the invisible...despite her sadness, the hope shone in her soul. "Oh, how lovely are the leafy trees, the soft tumbling leaves, the colors of Fall!", she spoke under her breath. Oh, how she wished the season would never end. Autumn was her secret safety...she loved the breeze, the crisp air, the children laughing and playing in the piles of crunchy leaves, her coffee, her books and the music she always hummed to herself. Always with headphones in her ears, she hummed and listened to notes all her own and glanced up to the sky to unravel the puzzle of its blue. She felt the melancholy silence and yet was happy in the solitude.

Thank you Lord for bringing me out of darkness to your light. I see the glory of your work for me...how much you expanded my soul to welcome life. I used to live in gray and the black but you colored my world with happiness. It is now rich with color, like a painting or a photograph of trees in autumn. You are the painter of a new life...one of truth,goodness, and daily gratefulness for your love.