{Fall Commeth Quickly}

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As I mourn the passing of summer, a part of me welcomes the coming of fall.  There is a calm that seems to settle around me as the air turns cooler and the leaves start to change their color. 

I am content to stay home after work, wrapped in blankets and crafting or reading after the dishes are done and leftovers are put away.   Sunshine and warmth beckons me outside to wander, yet the chilly air leads me home.

The seasons of Michigan are beautiful, although I do wish that winter here didn’t last six out of twelve months.  But fall in Michigan brings a bit of something magical along with it.  In my mind, it’s almost as if Tinkerbell comes from the depths of her Neverland to sprinkle pixie dust on all us busy people, steeped in our oblivion. It helps me open my eyes and see the beauty in my surroundings. 

Fall is enchanting.  The crunching of leaves under my feet, people lined up for Pumpkin Spice lattes at Starbucks, and the parade of scarves, boots, and hats that I see everywhere.   I watch through the window and see people smile as the crazy wind whips their hair all around until they can hardly see through the tangled mess.  I see them laughing as they try to juggle umbrellas and bags, until they give up and just make a run for it. 

People are talking about gift-giving, cozy decorations, and passing around yummy candles to smell.  Soups are simmering on the stove and bread is baking in the oven.  You come home and everything smells so good, so inviting. 

Football games, bonfires with roasted marshmallows, crafty projects, jazzy music, knitting scarves, drinking hot cider, sleeping with open windows and listening to the sounds of wind and rain whirling around outside.  There are visits to apple orchards, hay rides and homemade cider with donuts.  Neighborhood homes have wreaths on doors and are scattered with pumpkins & gourds on doorsteps.  The scene makes my heart happy.  

I take a deep breath and sigh a happy little sigh. 

Fall is here, and I never get tired of anticipating its arrival.  I know soon I will be longing for spring, the green grass and birds singing in the trees, but I am glad that to everything there is a season, and for today, this season is mine.  I will stand breathless as I watch it bursting forth with incomparable beauty and explosions of color, hand painted by the God of the universe, here for us to enjoy. 

{Lazy Sunday Afternoon...}

The curtains next to me are dancing as a delicious breeze blows through the open window.  

Coffee has finished brewing and I now have a steamy mug of hazelnut warmth next to me.  

My husband is a dozen feet away from me at the kitchen table studying and doing homework.

Our bunny is taking an afternoon nap in the corner, his ears twitching once in a while to make sure we’re still around.

There is a load of laundry on the line, one in the wash, and one in the dryer.  Our down comforter is also on the line, being aired out in the cool breeze, on what might be the last lovely weekend of the season.  

 

Of course there is always more that could be done, but right now it is time for a break.  It is time to enjoy the tranquility of this lazy afternoon.  The dishes in the sink can wait awhile longer, and the carpet doesn’t have to be vacuumed right this minute.  

I want to enjoy the calm that comes when I’m not rushing out the door for work or juggling meal planning and grocery shopping.  I will just be still for a minute.  Still so I can think, ponder, and listen.  I feel myself take a deep breath and sigh as I lean back on the couch cushions, sink into their softness and fight the urge to simply curl up and take a tap.  I hear birds chirping outside and turn my face towards the window so I can feel the gentle breeze blowing across it.  

I glance into the kitchen and catch my beloved’s eye.  He smiles at me, eyes twinkling, as he takes a sip of coffee.  He mouths the words I love you before returning to his textbooks.  

I am thankful for the peace in these moments and for the time to simply be still. 

{Nobody Asks to Be a Hero}

"Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, business men and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong." 

This is the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America.  

Every year on this day my body is covered with chills, my eyes are filled with tears, and my mind swirling with questions.  They say time heals all wounds, but it wasn’t my dad that died that day.  Will time ever heal the wounds of the people who had lives of loved ones so brutally ripped out from under them?

I believe completely in God’s sovereignty, but I also know that it’s easier to trust and believe when it was my dad and my friends that weren’t there that day when they were supposed to be.  God spared them, and I am forever thankful for that.   

Last weekend I attended a football game at Michigan Stadium, an arena seating over 113,000 people.  On the rooftops, perched over the suites and press-boxes were snipers, two on each corner, all around the stadium.  

 You could see them standing tall in the distance,
watching….waiting…ever on alert. This is America now.  

 

The words terrorism or terrorist attack weren’t in my vocabulary before 9/11/01.   I had never heard words like jihad or Al Qaeda, and had no idea who Osama Bin Laden was.   That all changed the day those towers collapsed.  The day the Pentagon was hit.  The day that plane was diverted and crashed in Pennsylvania.   Those words became common in my house, used without thinking because it’s such a part of American life now.  Those words and the people behind them have tried to steal America’s freedom.   Some freedom they stole by taking life itself, other freedoms they stole by invoking paralyzing fear.  

I remember the weeks immediately after, and being scared to go two miles down the road to the grocery store.  Afraid to see Arabs shopping in there, afraid to make eye contact, afraid to be away from my family, afraid of the silence that surrounded all the public places.  Life was eerily quiet for the days and even weeks following 9/11.  People didn’t smile, didn’t laugh as much.  I remember feeling like everybody was simply going about their business as quickly as possible so they could get home again to their loved ones.   

"A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining. Today, our nation saw evil -- the very worst of human nature -- and we responded with the best of America. " 

In the days following the attacks, the news continued to replay footage as more bodies were being uncovered and the likelihood of finding additional survivors dwindled.  I remember standing around the television with my friends from high school and their families, as there was talk of reinstating the draft.  My friends were all talking about what they would do, if they would willingly go fight for their country, and how they wanted to defend America’s freedom.  In the next few years, two of my friends did enlist, and one of them has served three tours overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

"This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world."

I am proud of the Americans that will never forget and never relent.  I love the Americans that resolve to never give up on the idea of freedom that our Founding Fathers fought for, lived for and died for.   I still tear up every single time I hear the National Anthem because of what happened that day.  My favorite line?  The phrase guaranteed to make me cry even reading the simple words? 

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there

Knowing that there are people in this world that want our flag to stop flying in this country, it makes me grateful every time I see it waving proudly.  I thank God for the freedom He has so graciously allowed this country to have, and I pray that as Americans we do not take it for granted.  He has blessed us with it, but He can also take it away.  We should not turn our backs on Him as a nation and we should certainly not take this freedom for granted. 

I thank God that He saw fit to spare my dad and my friends from being in New York City that day, but my heart goes out to the families that had a different fate.  I hope they turn to God as the one and only true comfort in life.  

Never forget.

{quotes from Address to the Nation given on 9/11/01 by President George W. Bush}