Fall

The Adirondack Mountains is the best place to live in the fall! Each season has it's perks here in the North country, but fall is by far, my favorite! The bugs are finally gone, the air is much cooler, and the leaves on the trees are breathtaking! I get so excited when September comes and the maple trees start turning red. All along the lakes and creeks are a beautiful patchwork of orange and yellow.
     Going for walks is a favorite family activity. We like to collect pretty leaves to wax and use as decoration. I get inspired to bake and make soup and goulash. I love the smell of the kids when they come in from playing outside. Most of all, I love stepping on dried up leaves and hearing them crunch under my foot.
      If you think about it, fall actually represents death. The leaves are changing color because they are dying. They fall from the trees because they are dead. I can't go through fall without thinking about death. To be a humble servant of Christ requires a dying to self that is as beautiful as the autumn leaves. There are a million times a day that I have to choose to either live for myself or die to myself for the sake of others.
     When I wake up in the morning, I don't like talking. I have five children who want to be fed and held, and need to be changed. I can either grumble and care for them with a 'poor me' attitude, or I can die to myself and love them through the power of Jesus Christ. I fail at this a lot of mornings. Sunday mornings are the hardest! No matter how much I prepare the night before, there is still craziness as we get ready for church. I have been so convicted many mornings as I'm barking orders and herding everyone out the door so we can go worship the Lord. How can I worship when I was just yelling at my kids and short with my husband. When I choose to give into my frustrations and take it out on those around me, I am living for myself.
    It is so easy for me to write this, but to live it is much harder. I am a selfish person. Full of pride and just plain lazy! I believe that through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, I can live a life of humility and others oriented. I have to see that every time I choose to put someone else's needs first, I am changing colors like the leaves on the maple tree. I piece of my selfish pride is dying when I choose others. Only God can make death beautiful...in nature and in His people!  Some of the most beautiful people I know are not in Hollywood or fashion magazines...they are people who faithfully and quietly live their lives for the Lord and for others. They are the people who make dinners for others, who clean the church, who raise their children and serve their family. Some of the most beautiful people I know are those who love the Lord and live their lives in service and devotion to Him!
  I pray that the Lord would help me remember that it's not about me. It's about Him. It's about His people. It's about His work. I am just a leaf...

...These are who I am called to serve! This is my life...to love and serve my children and my husband. I am blessed to live a quiet life of cooking, cleaning, playing, teaching and loving. The world (and the devil's lies) would tell me that there has to be more. That I have to live for me and make something of myself. If all I ever do in this life is love my husband and raise my children to know and love Christ, than that is a life that is pleasing to God. That is a life that will look like a golden tree among all the pines!