First Fall

It was 1990, and even thought I was in my early twenties, I felt like a little girl. The reason…it was my very first fall. Growing up in a tropical country, I've never experienced the wonder of autumn before. So that year, my eyes opened wide to one of nature’s treats…the turning of the leaves.

Being tucked in at a small college in Western Pennsylvania helped; since it was surrounded by thick forests that became alive in early fall. I remember it as if it’d been just last year. It happened without me noticing. It seems as if one day I woke up and there it was…autumn in its splendor, surrounding my wondering eyes. The autumn sun shining through the branches as the leaves fell around my path...It was a magical environment known to me only in movies. I couldn’t believe it was real.

I was so thrilled to see it with my own eyes, I kept collecting leaves of all colors and shapes for I wanted to share it with my family back home. I made a rather rustic card with pressed leaves on it (I am NOT a gifted crafter, so for me to fold some construction paper and add glue to it was a huge step : ). I sent the home-made card to my parents and they were so excited with the idea of fall that they kept making plans to come around to see it some time. Though it was never possible, the images lived in their minds thanks to the description in my letters and the leaves on my card. I actually found that card last November while my sister and I went through my Dad’s things after his passing…he kept it for over twenty years…

In that first fall God began to teach me the lesson about the circle of life. The illustration from nature made it come alive in a way more vivid than any words can paint. The splendor of the leaves which show their true colors as they are about to be cut off from the source of life drew a clear point about the beauty that is brought forth through maturity. Then, they must fall to give way to the season of sterility and silence which is follow by renewed hope until we get to fully bloom again. And the cycle closes to yet begin one more time as a testimony of the needed endurance as we wait.

Summer is now coming quickly to an end, and I contemplate fall. It doesn’t have the same sense of wonder that it did years ago; but it still has a particular way to grasp at my soul. The crisp evenings, magnificent sunsets and radiance of the leaves still move my eyes toward the Lord in a special way. He still talks to me in the many shades of oranges, browns and reds, telling me tales of life, love, hope, pain, death, healing and faith.

His creation speaks to us as the seasons complete their circles until that glorious day when He’ll come back again. Then any loss will be gain, and every tear will be wiped away as the magnificence of nature is blurred by the presence of the One who commanded it into being. The sense of wonder will return for His radiance will finally be here as it was previously dimly foreshadowed by the colors of fall.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1: 20

This is one of the pictures I sent to my parents that very first fall. 

I found it in a photo album my Mom had where she kept all the pictures I sent them from my college years in the USA.

Linking with: Marriage Monday, Cornerstone Confessions