PATHS.....

I took a walk this morning. Nothing earth shattering about that I guess, except this one took me on a different path, which got me to thinking about my life during this season of time. Fall is in the air. I love fall. It surprises me, it excites me, it hints of expectation. It begins to sneak in its colors as if not to offend the beauty of summer. Soon it will be unable to hold back and it will explode with breathtaking colors, shouting proudly, before softly drifting to the ground in lackluster tans, giving in to its former beauty and embracing the boldness of the season it just had but must now give way to winter. Does that not apply to me as well? I'm not sad,..I've had a wonderful 'fall' season. I held on to my youthfulness as strongly as those leaves clung to the branches, but now hopefully, gracefully giving way to another season. Those dried up leaves still have a purpose....they don't just curl up and die, they nurture the earth, they settle in and give hope for the newness of life as their dry pieces cuddle down beneath the soft earth enriching the soil for the new seedlings of spring. I pray my life has brought that kind of enrichment to others. I've walked many different paths in my life....childhood, young adult, wife, mother, friend, confidant, believer. All had called me in different directions, not unlike the forks in the paths I walk on each morning. I made some good choices, some not so good, some difficult ones and some I just choose to forget, but with each choice I grew. I grew because of the nurturing I received from others, their wisdom and love teaching me lessons they had themselves accumulated from their forebears and their experiences. They nurtured me, I hope I have nurtured even a few. I pray my life has a bit more ahead of it, but for now I am content to know that each path has a purpose, each season has reason and, as a believer, if I embrace His Word, if I walk in His ways...and if I acknowledge Him, He will and has directed my paths. Proverbs 3:6