Attitude of the Heart

Around here fall is an attitude, as is winter. Here in Houston we can never count on the weather being particularly fall-ish or winter-ish when it's supposed to be. So, really, true seasonal joy must be an attitude that is lived out and enjoyed no matter the temperature.

This was so perfectly exemplified yesterday by my children. Might we all be more like them (in some ways and not others :))). It was a balmy 75 degrees outside and the ground had dried out from a recent rain. What's more, our great big Silver Maple tree in the back had finally figured out it was fall and has been dropping leaves like crazy. The kids have been begging me for days to rake the leaves and play in them. So yesterday I obliged. So there we were in our shorts and short sleeves raking, piling, and jumping.




The kids could not have had more fun! They were so creative too. They found more to do with fall leaves than I ever dreamed possible. They raked huge piles and buried each other. They filled the slide with leaves. They rolled trucks down the slide into leaves. They rolled themselves down the slide into leaves. They jumped off chairs into leaves. They made leaf pile forts and sat in the middle. What a joy it was to hear their joy-filled laughter ringing through the air.

You see fall isn't about the right temperature, but about the wonder of the season and the fun it holds. The same goes for winter and Christmastime. I have spent many a Christmas in shorts and if my holiday happiness did depend on the weather, I'd have been disappointed many a year. My children teach me many things. Yesterday they taught me to revel in fall leaves at 75 degrees WITH humidity. What will they teach me next?

Today we revel in drastically different weather. The high for the day was this morning at 7am (72 degrees). In a few short hours it dropped thirty degrees and got very blustery. Yesterday spring. Today winter. Despite the crazy change we are enjoying it. We are flexible. We can go from wearing shorts to building fires in less than 24 hours. From icy lemonade to hot cocoa in nothing flat. Like the Boy Scouts, we are always prepared!

Lord, may my happiness and joy never depend on things transient, but on things lasting, most especially You!

Now I'm off to brew something warm to drink!