By Pastor Leah Fintel Krotz, Trinity Lutheran Church, Bruning
Hasn’t the cooler weather we’ve had lately been wonderful? School has started, and the locusts are singing in the evenings. Gardens are overflowing with produce, and late-blooming flowers such as sedum and goldenrod and dahlias are coming into their own. The days are growing shorter and there’s a hint of fall in the air. Football season is underway, and before we know it, harvest time.
These changes are always bittersweet, aren’t they? We look back at the summer and wonder how it could possibly have gone by so quickly. The time between the Fourth of July and the Thayer County Fair seemed to pass in a flash. I’m always thinking of all the fun plans I had and regretting that we didn’t find time to fit more of them in. And that 15 pounds I was going to lose this summer? Didn’t happen!
But a new season, or a new school year, or a fresh sports season, always brings with it hope and optimism. Maybe this fall we’ll finally get the horse barn painted, or go hiking at Indian Cave State Park, or the Husker football team will make it back into the Top Twenty! At the beginning of something new, there’s always that feeling of anticipation and possibilities.
As we approach these new seasons of life, it’s good to take the time to enjoy all the little blessings God has given us—a delicious cup of coffee or tea, a good chat with a friend, a hug from a grandchild, a beautiful full moon. My challenge to each of us is that we take a minute or so each day to just breathe deeply and reflect on the simple joys of life—before we blink and another season has gone by.
“Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, and his steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1
