FALL

I was contemplating today why I love Fall. The last few weeks as I've driven the kids to school I have found myself singing the Primary song "It's Autumn time... It's Autumn time... The leaves are falling down. It's Autumn time. It's Autumn time. Pretty colors can be found."

Pretty colors are one thing I love about Fall. But I don't just love Fall. I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE Fall.

I feel completely in my element during the Fall. Like it could stay like this forever and I would be happy. I wouldn't miss the days at the lake in the summer and I wouldn't miss the snowman building in the winter and I wouldn't even miss the pretty tulips of Spring (they're my favorite).

I was trying to figure out what it was about Fall that made me feel so comfortable and I think I've figured it out...

It's not only that my husband and I fell in love in the Fall and we were married the next Fall.

It's not only that it's Back to School time and Halloween time. I loooooooooooove Halloween.

It's not just the tremendous amount of good, warm, comfort food that starts flowing and the anticipation for the upcoming Holiday Season.

It's not even the fact that every Fall I am blessed to hear and be taught by our loving Prophets and Apostles....

It's all these and more.

I think of Fall almost as if it's a person. Because it feels like a best friend to me. Really. And this year it's reminding me, like best friends do, that we have a lot in common.

FALL IS FULL OF HOPE AND FAITH.

Fall reminds me that what I am doing is right. That I am preparing for hard times. So that when all of the sudden life goes from the easiness of a lazy summer day to a cold and bitter winter I am ready.

It also reminds me that while things are dying and changing and cold and they feel like they will never be the same again I can find BEAUTY in that.

Change is hard. But sometimes it can be AMAZING to watch. If we are righteously preparing for hard winters and trials it usually brings out the best in us... it is also amazing to notice this in other people.

Think of every person you know as a tree....

When we see somebody who has just been given a new trial in their life we are lucky enough to see them go from their shiny happy green and carefree leaves (lives) to a magnificent shade of reds, oranges, yellows, and golds.

I see this beautiful stage as the prep stage at the beginning of their trial. If that person or tree wants to survive they know they have to focus all their energy on keeping their core healthy. The beautiful colors we find in people come out when they are immersing themselves in the gospel. When they are studying and listening to the Spirit and trying to figure out what to do and how they will survive the winter.

They are proving to all of us that they have FAITH that they can come through the cold hard winters of that trial and eventually be back to a full and healthy green.

This is what Fall is to me. It reminds me that there is hope. And that with Faith we can make it through anything. Even the things that feel like they might kill us.

Of course....My best friend, Fall, usually goes through her winter trials just fine and eventually comes back to life through the warming of the Sun.

For me..... it's just a different Son. But He warms me all the same.