Autumn Again

It's Autumn again. You wouldn't know it from the trees. But I know it is because the shadows grow longer earlier in the afternoon, and the air is a lot cooler for more of the day.
I love Autumn. Those of you who have read this blog for the past year have probably figured that out. I have been thinking about posting about Autumn for a while but only now found the time.

One morning as I was walking to campus I thought about why I love autumn so much.
I remembered high school soccer games, the smell of fresh cut grass, and the chill of the air running across the field.
I remembered the dreary cloudy days in New York and Ohio where all you wanted to do was stay at home in your pjs and watch the rain come down, or football on tv.
I remembered several Autumns during which I found myself in a new place.
Fall of my junior year I was at Cedarville, followed by Focus on the Family Institute in Colorado, then Beijing, China, and then my most recent stop, Auburn, Alabama. Each Autumn holds the seeds of new beginnings.

I think when most people think of Autumn, they think of things dying. The leaves change color, and die and fall leaving trees barren. Crops die, which is why we harvest. But even in that there is hope. Even Jesus said of his own death, "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

I think Autumn is most special to me because it is evidence that even when things change, they are renewed. It is a reminder of many special things in my life, having planted seeds, they may now come to fruition. It is a reminder that though there is death, life remains victorious.