Good Bye Summer

Being a tropical girl and all, I'm never sure when seasons begin and when they end...but today I'm certain of one thing... I know summer is over since evenings are getting colder, days are getting shorter and I've already packed away the last beach towel.

Sigh...

As I look back at our summer time, I realize I have much to be thankful for.  I did a great deal of traveling.  The entire family was very healthy, PRAISE THE LORD! The kids had fun.  And most of all, I learned a lot about myself. Among many other things, I learned that I still have a long way to go to become the person the Lord desires me to be.  I learned I still struggle with selfishness and lack of forgiveness.  I learned I still harbor resentment in my heart about things/people I thought I had left behind.  I learned I still don't fully trust God's plan for my life.  I learned that I still like to manipulate events to ensure the outcomes I think I want.  I learned I'm still very impatient and short-tempered.  I learned I still have many a materialistic tendencies.  And I learned I'm still very much in love with this world.

However, I also learned that God is Faithful.  I learned that even so I am still in the infancy of my faith, Christ loves me the same.  I learned that when I am weakest, He is strongest!  I learned that I can choose to trust Him and that His Power delivers me every day.  I learned that behind every perceived failure there is a real victory.  I learned that His Love endures in spite of myself.  I learned that He's got me by His Right Hand and that He is not about to let go of me.  I learned that even though I still have a lot to learn, I've got the perfect Teacher who never tires of His students.

We now approach Autumn, and inevitably, with this season, melancholic feelings settle into my soul.  But the fresh scent of summer will remain tucked in the pictures and memories that keep it alive...and perhaps, I might even catch a faint whiff of the beach every time I open the linen closet and stand in front of the colorful assortment of neatly folded towels that I'm putting away today.