Monday, October 27, 2008

This is a shout out to my Romanian reader. I get a pretty consistent hit from somewhere in Romania, but I have no idea who I might be connected to over there. So, my Romanian friend, leave me a comment sometime. :)

I don't have much to blog about lately. I've been feeling somewhat uninspired these days. So, I'll give you a few thoughts on death- but not what you're probably thinking. As I said earlier, I love the fall. What a great time of year. But as I watch the leaves change and fall to the ground, I can't help but think about dying. These leaves, who have provided so much beauty and shade and photosynthesis are now meeting their end. They will be raked into monster trash bags that look like pumpkins and eventually end up in some dump or landfill. This death is necessary for the tree. And as a season ends, the tree is preparing itself for something new. For new life. New blooms, new beauty, new leaves, new shade. But this new life only comes through death. And we are reminded of this each October.

I have died to a few things in my life. At the end of my first semester in grad school my mentor asked me: "What have you died to this semester?" My answer was very obvious to me. That semester I had died to Lubbock and home. After two previous failed attempts to leave, I had finally moved away from my home and community and the safety it provided- not just physically, but emotionally too. I knew that I could be successful in a new place. Dying to my Lubbock/parents/Broadway/friends/LCU/home self gave me an opportunity for new life elsewhere. New opportunities, challenges, and joys. I'm thinking we are always dying to something. It is a Biblical idea after all.

The hard part about dying is that time between the falling leaves and the new blooms: the winter. The tree must endure a long hard cold season before it is ready to produce the new life. So, I feel as though I am in a fall stage of life right now. I am dying to something. I can feel it in my heart. And I'm bracing myself for the cold season ahead. But I know there is a beautiful spring in store full of new life and beauty.

4 comments:

Ashley said...

Such a true and wise post. We are in a winter season right now and it is not fun. I am so very thankful that I serve a God who always brings Spring just when I think I can't handle Winter anymore. I pray for your Winter is a short one....

Love you

Allison said...

This post brought tears to my eyes. I love you, and I love your honesty and insight. I pray your winter is neither too long, nor too cold.

Katherine said...

Wow-great post. Thanks for sharing. I can definitely relate-I have been in the winter period for quite awhile, and am ready to turn the corner into spring!!

Blessings, friend~

Larissa said...

I hadn't read your blog in a while. I cried. I thought about this very thing today...that's so weird. The thought of how spring always follows winter...but winter follows fall. I don't really want to face another winter, but at the same time even though it's hard, things do blossom again. Great post and you worded it perfectly.

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