Before I begin this post, I want to Welcome all my new followers. I hope you find faith-building, inspirational notes here and whispers of God’s touch for you in women’s stories. In gratitude to all of my friends who follow Heart Filled Moments, I’ve prepared a downloadable 5-Day Mini-Devotional about finding God’s fingerprints in your life. Be blessed here: https://janisvankeuren.com/finding-gods-fingerprints

With Autumn in full swing, I’m captured by the crisp air, flavors, and smells of this colorful season. Come along on this ride through this season and some thoughts on other seasons in our lives.

Crimson reds and sunlit yellows dance in the Autumn leaves as we wind our way up the smooth highway from our home to Mount Lemmon. Autumn boasts her colors here almost 9,000 feet above the desert floor. Maples and Aspens invite visitors to embrace this Fall spectacle. In just an hour and a half, one can climb from the rocky, cactus-studded desert to the riotous-colored trees atop Mt. Lemmon.

This desert dweller delights in a taste of Autumn not far from home. The crisp air tingles my skin as it recovers from the sun-prickled summer just passed. I savor the change of seasons waltzing before me.

So close, yet we’ve only made this autumn journey a few times since moving to the desert, but Autumn and the Mountain call to my heart. At times I wonder if I wasn’t created for a different climate. The type my parents experienced on the East Coast. The affection for this season almost seems inherited. This longing for Autumn seems woven into my genetic makeup.

While I delight in the changing weather, which can make one feel as if life itself has been renewed, some seasonal changes are harder to embrace. Weather aside, there are seasonal changes in life which lack the color and joy of Autumn or Spring. When we apply the word seasons to our travels through life’s different stages, the word captures images which are either challenging or heartwarming.

Seasons of life can be fickle just like the weather. They may carry you on unexpected journeys. Friendships, health, and age are a few of those unpredictable seasons. One day your head spins with plans designed for a future when life’s pace should slow down and adventures begin. Perhaps your dreams include travel, visits to family across the country, a new hobby, or serving in a ministry. However, illness may slash through those visions leaving only shreds of your plans.

God reminds us through Ecclesiastes 3:1–“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” NIV

Friendships can travel the road of seasons as well. Hopefully, you have found solid friends who offer you strength through whatever curves life throws at you. Those cherished friendships have their own seasons through which God leads them. Blending our seasons together mixes a potpourri of aromas. At times they are as spicy and colorful as Autumn or Springtime. At other times, they carry us through a barren, bleak Winter that calls us to open our hands and allow our treasured friends to follow their own journey where God leads them on their own adventure.

Recently, I had the privilege and difficulty of bidding a longtime friend good-bye as God brought her and her husband on a new journey in life. Friends since college, we’ve laughed at each other’s antics, enjoyed the same adventures, and most importantly, grown in our faith and walk with Jesus. In this new season, our friendship will remain the same though the physical distance has changed.

I pray that in each season of our lives–yours and mine– God’s grace will move our hearts to trust Him.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

From My Heart to Yours,

Janis