stillness

Our "Indian Summer" in Denver has officially come to an end- there is snow in the forecast, the piles of leaves in my yard point toward bare tree branches and my drink cravings have made the shift from diet vanilla coke at Sonic to chai tea with a pump of mocha at Starbucks. Usually, I meet the change of seasons with a sense of mourning to leave behind my beloved summer and head into the colder, harsher, stiller months of winter. But more than any year before it, this fall has been a symbolic one for me.

I wrote a little while back about how it has been a sort of tumultuous time for us... and that continues, actually. There seems to be less time (darn dental school) and more tough stuff than usual right now. Yet instead of my usual anxiousness for activity and warmth, I feel the Lord calling us to make room for stillness and quietness and resting in Him. I don't know exactly what that looks like in a life abuzz with constant motion... perhaps we pare down our commitments? Maybe we get up earlier? Or maybe it is an issue of intentionality- putting up a guard against the flood of busyness and conflict that currently seems to encompass my thoughts and conversations. Whatever the answer, just the thought of rest is a welcome respite from the storm that life has been lately...

I can't say that I am giddy at the thought of winter the way my heart is delighted with the first warm-enough-to-go-to-the-pool days in May (not sure that emotion will ever accompany this season). But the serenity and quiet that accompany the fall and coming winter resonante with me right now and I am looking forward to the stillness to come.

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. PSALM 46:10-11