"Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile."
-William Cullen Bryant
Over the past 4 ½ years I have grown to love the midwest for many reasons but one of my favorite things about living in the midwest is Fall. I could write a book about my love for Texas but the one thing that wouldn't be in that book is the dramatic transition from Summer to Fall that you experience here in the midwest. This is our first Fall in Dayton and I have been anxiously anticipating the change of colors in the leaves and I must say that my expectations have been greatly exceeded. The vibrant colors of the leaves up and down the streets of our little neighborhood are truly breathtaking & miraculous.
With the change of the season, comes alot of reflection and re-evaluation for me. It's crazy to think how much change we have experienced in just the past 6 months...the change from med school to residency, moving to a new city, new home, new friends, new church, new job etc...all of this change has not come without challenges but as I have learned before, change & transition can be a good thing if you allow it to be. With all of this earthly change in our lives I have also been thinking about how much I desire spiritual change and growth in my own heart. I'm already thinking back to the New Years Resolutions I made in January. Did I live up to these resolutions?...Does my life look different now than it did last year? Has there been change and growth in my own heart and life since I wrote that post almost a year ago? In some ways yes but in so many ways no...I'm reminded of Paul's conflict in his own heart in Romans 7 and how much I can relate to the battle he experiences as a Christian desiring to follow and serve God with everything he is but so often failing to accomplish that.
15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.Thankfully, I serve a God who is "slow to anger and abounding in love"... I have family and friends who consistently love, support and encourage me...and it's never too late in the year to re-evaluate your new years resolutions and re-comit your heart to Him...if fact, why not re-comit our hearts to Him every day...our lives would look so differently if we did.
