Winds of Change

It’s autumn.

The winds of change are blowing.

Girlfriends, have you been outside this week? Have you gone on a walk, worked in the yard, or just sat soaking in the sun? If not, I encourage you to open the door and go. Soon enough, we will be huddled inside, clothed in layers, snuggling under blankets, and totally avoiding the outdoor world. 

It’s autumn.

The winds of change are blowing.

I just returned from a walk without music, headphones, or even my cell phone for that matter. (Pause. Overcome your shock that my iphone parted from my body for a few minutes. Continue reading.) The flags are whipping on their poles. Leaves of the trees are whooshing and whispering secrets only angels understand. The gusts were blowing my hair all over my head, only to die down and leave my face hidden behind all the wild strands. I consciously breathed deeply and exhaled slowly, savoring the fresh fall air, sharing thoughts with God, and sensing the seasonal transition breaking through time.

It’s autumn.

The winds of change are blowing.

With every step around the neighborhood (carefully counted on my FitBit of course!), I felt God moving me away from a cherished past and toward an exciting, yet still unknown, future. Have you ever experienced God’s stirring in your body? Sometimes when I walk, I am forcing myself forward against the wind, wondering why I am even trying, or what is the point? At other times, the air is calm and still, and I don’t think at all. But today was different. The wind was at my back, and I almost felt like I was gliding over the newly blacktopped roads of our subdivision (which in reality would have been a good thing because now my shoes have black tar on the bottoms!) Today, the winds of change were blowing, propelling me in a different life direction, almost as if the wind and I were one, united in purpose and meaning. I sit here now, thinking, “ With whom did I really walk today? Was that whistling truly just the wind?”

It’s autumn.

The winds of change are blowing.

Girlfriends, I do not know where you are today, right now, in your life’s journey. Maybe you are fighting headstrong into hurricane force gales, holding on for dear life, wondering if you will make it through another minute, hour, or day? Perhaps you are caught up in the spiral of a tornado, spinning and screaming for someone to let you out? Maybe you are in a still, serene place with no wind at all, just savoring the peace and calm? Possible you are not relishing the calm, because you see a foreboding sky and wonder when the storm will start and how long will it last? Or maybe, like me, you have the winds of change at your back, forcing you onward whether you like it or not? Maybe, like Mary Poppins, you are “on the wind” with your umbrella at this very moment, about to land in a purposeful place that is desperately in need of your gifts and talents. 

Whatever your circumstances, my friends, one thing I know

for certain is that the Force behind every gust, breeze, or calm is our Father in Heaven, Who both created and controls the winds of our lives. I pray today that you put your hope and your trust in that invisible force, in that God you may not “see,” but Who, just like the wind, is present even when your eyes cannot perceive. Our Lord directs the winds of change for His purpose and His plan, and Girlfriends, you can fight it, or you can flow with it. You have a choice. I pray this week, take a walk with the Lord. Pray. Sense His presence. Ask His forgiveness. Receive it and be blessed. Feel His peace. And one day, you will enter His rest. Until then, enjoy every season of this life and glorify His Name.

It’s autumn.
The winds of change are blowing.

TGIFriday and the Tree

TGIFriday! And I do not mean the restaurant!

Quite frankly, Girlfriends, I thank God each day He wakes me up to His beautiful world!

The first little, and I mean little, snowflakes of the impending snowstorm are starting to flutter outside my window as I write to you.

I am so glad I got up early and walked Oreo before the temperatures dropped. I enjoy my mornings walks with our dog. I usually start out in the same direction each day, circling around the corner to the east side of the house and heading north on the sidewalk. I have to tell you, though, that we do not get far past our yard before we make the first stop. Sometimes we halt because Oreo is doing the pee-pee dance! But, usually, I am the one pausing to meditate, while she looks up at me with pleading eyes as if to say, “Who’s walk is this, anyway?”

So what give me pause so shortly into our morning stroll?

A tree.

Not just any tree, mind you. My street, my neighborhood, is full of barren trees lining the streets and in the yards.

So what makes this tree under which I stand so special from November to late March?

Leaves.

Not just any leaves, mind you. DEAD leaves.

This tree is completely cloaked in dead, brown, lifeless leaves.

It isn’t beautiful; this tree is honestly just as much a reminder of the bitter cold, stagnant days of winter as the bare trees surrounding it.

Yet I stop beneath this tree every single day…and LISTEN.

What this tree DOES have, on most days, is a rustling murmur that whispers to me in the silence of the season. As the wind passes through the brown, crinkled foliage, I hear the voice of God calling out to me: “I am still here. Do not believe your eyes—what appears dead is really alive!”

What a way to start my day, ANY day, not just TGIFridays!

My neighbor’s oak tree is God’s auditory reminder that HE IS ALIVE and present in this world, in my world, in YOUR world.

My Girlfriends, God is calling you today; can you hear Him? Have even you stopped to listen? It may only be a whisper, or the wind through the dry leaves of an oak tree. But make no mistake, He is alive, and He wants to be your friend too. God is calling you to a relationship with HIM. Figuratively or literally, whether you are living in a place where the trees are green and the flowers in bloom OR you are passing each day in the dormancy and dead of winter, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Spend some time with your Lord today. He wrote you the most beautiful love letter ever—better than any Hallmark Valentine’s Day card –it’s The Bible. I urge you today to hear from the greatest love of your life and know that YOU are His love!

In case you need a place to start, and since it is close to Valentine’s Day, I will leave you with some of God’s poetry: a Psalm. How amazing that in Psalm 1, Verses 1-4, God talks to us about WALKING, MEDITATING, A TREE, WITHERING LEAVES, and WIND.  (And even more amazing is the fact that I wrote this note to you BEFORE I looked up a verse to go with it! Glory to God!)

TGIFriday, and Thank God for _____________.

(My answer is GIRLFRIENDS! Love You!)

Scripture:

Psalm 1:1-4

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
² but his delight is in the law^[b] of the LORD,
   and on his law he meditates day and night.

 ³ He is like a tree
   planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
   and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
⁴ The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away.