Fall Means Life Goes On

I love Fall.  If you have any doubt about that, scroll through all my blog posts...I think I annually try to capture the magic of Autumn and pay tribute to it in words.

This year it is even more meaningful to me because it marks the passage of time that has been hard to notice.  With every day blending into the next so much this year, it is only as the leaves have started changing on the mountains that I fully realize how much time has passed since life changed so much back in March.

Fall brings contrasts.  It is about renewal.  It is about rest.  It is about comfort.  And all of those things can only be appreciated if you are needing a fresh start, tired, or uncomfortable.  I live a blessed life, but there have still been plenty of things needing rest, comfort or renewal this year.

• College graduations didn't look quite as we'd hoped...but we celebrated anyway.
• Mission service got interrupted...but we learned from the disappointment and made the best of the unexpected time together.
• Exciting trips were canceled...but we created adventures of our own to still enjoy time together.
• People didn't love us the way we hoped they would...but we tried to be loving anyway.
• Physical pain is real...but so are miracles.
• Gatherings with extended family and friends were thwarted...but we tried to reach out in creative ways.
• Masks make our glasses fog up...but we've all been able to stay healthy.

This year hasn't been at all what I envisioned, but I am grateful for the experiences and the happiness we've been able to find amid the hardships.  I hope that I'm a better person for it, because either way, the leaves will soon start to fall...