Embracing God’s Glory-Gift of Fall

I love the sound of feet scuffling through the brittle crunch of fall leaves. This morning I walk in the woods crisp-cool and saturated with the fingerprint of God.  Beauty surrounds me and peace covers my soul like a  blanket, warming the chill of the weather. The Spirit moves and I wonder why is it easier to “feel” thankful when I breathe deep the beauty of nature?

I am grateful for this earthly beauty of fall, a tiny taste of God’s glory contained in a season. What a gift that we can see and hear glory in tangible ways through what He has created.

It is an experiential seeing and listening, and my heart fills with joy, appreciating the wonder of God, Creator King. I grab hold with heart stretched wide, this glory-gift of color-blazoned fall. Days rich with texture and variety, ripe with joy to be had merely by the looking. It beckons me to look beyond the hurry-scurry tasks of today, past the problems and questions that tempt me to the blight of ingratitude.

We experience more of God through what He has made.

If we let it happen, we can lose ourselves in this grandeur of God. For a moment, forgetting all else but drinking in creation. We are blessed. Refreshed. We have before our appreciating eyes, testimony—evidence—of the creative power and infinite variety of God. Built within our hearts is this capacity to recognize God’s existence in the majesty of what He has created.

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”–Romans 1:20

The beauty of nature: The Revelation of  God.

“…Nature is not God but God revealing the weight of Himself, all His glory through the looking glass of nature.”—Ann Voskamp

I find myself with an unquenchable desire to enjoy the beauty-blessing of fall. Sunlight shimmers setting the leaves on fire with the glow of autumn. Willy-nilly, I cannot stop taking pictures, capturing little glimpses of seasonal colors and textures–rocks, bark, acorns, and trees. An attempt to hold-fast to the transitory changes of this ever-spinning earth by capturing God’s glory.

My kids roll their eyeballs at the silliness of Mom taking more pictures, yet I cannot stop.

Each click of the camera, stops a moment of time–an act of appreciation. The colors and textures, no two alike, make my heart skip with the worship of enjoying God’s goodness expressed through the delight of the seasons, the wonder of autumn and the glory-gift of God.

What glory-gift of fall are you thankful for today? Don’t forget to enter the drawing for a Milestone Blessing Bowl for your Thanksgiving table. The drawing will be held at 5 pm November 20.