woods – Sharon O'Connor

Called to Hope

by Sharon

*Saturday morning mindset while relaxing and drinking coffee or tea*:

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

*Monday morning mindset looking at the list of to-do’s for the week*:

“My sorrow, when she’s here with me, thinks these dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be; she loves the bare, the withered tree; she walks the sodden pasture lane.” – Robert Frost

Which quote can you relate to above?

Are you invigorated this year with the change to a crisp fall, sunshine filtering through falling leaves, and the cozy happiness of all things autumn (pumpkin spice coffee lovers, rejoice)? Or do you struggle with those subtle change-of-season-blues that are real for many people? If you know, you know.

Maybe you’re like me and can relate, some seasons, to both. Last year I walked in our familiar misty woods on paths covered in foliage. This year we moved. A big change. A lovely provision from God. The new scenery is just as beautiful in its own way. I walk my dachshund pup on a country road surrounded by pastures, curious cows, and a stoic blue heron that swoops away up the creek nearby.

I think about seasons and situations and how God works through them all.

Illness.

A big life change – a precious new baby, new marriage, adjusting to an empty nest, or a new job.

The loss of a loved one.

Global upheaval.

An unknown future.

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “There is nothing permanent except change.”

I think Heraclitus is not wrong in terms of this world . . . but hold onto your pumpkin spice coffee just a minute and stick with me.

Hebrews 13:8 assures us that, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever.”

If we have a relationship with Christ Jesus, even in a rapidly changing world, we know our future. We are secure in him and our future is good. Our unknowns, our sorrows, our dreams and joys are filtered through powerful, personal, hope. Whether we’re in a sunny happy pasture-place in life, or feel like we’re walking down a misty hidden lane, as believers, our spiritual footing is secure.

God offers hope freely, day to day, month to month, season to season. There is enough for you, too.

Here is a passage from Ephesians 1:15-23 that I journaled recently. I’m holding onto these truths hiking into the end of October:

¹⁵For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²²And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

If autumn quotes aren’t quite resonating with you this year (or even if they are – some of them are a lot of fun!), the promises of God’s Word, friend, are always true. Let’s get to know God and his promises better. We’ve been called to hope (read that as a noun) every day of the week!

Would you like to know more about true Hope? Comment or message me. I would be honored to share the hope available in every season, in every “pasture or path” of life, that only comes from believing in God’s son, Jesus Christ.

Are you worried about the future? Struggling with a personal or spiritual issue that’s causing anxiety, uncertainty or fear about tomorrow? You can browse through dozens of topics and questions and begin your journey to a more peaceful life right now at Peace with God (https://peacewithgod.net/)

Sharon's Journal

Looking for Color

by Sharon

I couldn’t wait to get into the woods this past weekend. Saturday morning’s agenda started with sipping coffee next to Tom and watching the back yard show. The green path into the woods has slowly been transformed to a carpet of gold and tan leaves. The day before, we spied moving shadows of brown and white as deer made their way through the trees. Two doe ventured down into our yard, taking their time to nibble at the rhododendrons, before sashaying back into their woods. One paused long enough for a photo.

Every year at this time I have a system of mental notches related to which month and which cancer diagnosis, treatment, surgery, or test result from 2010-2013. Autumns have been seasons with difficult hues and unwelcome changes. October 1, 2012 found us sitting in the oncologist’s office listening to the words, “Your cancer has returned.”

Hunting season. Healing season. The two are intertwined in my head.

On this morning ten years to the day later, I grabbed my usual hunting weapon of choice, a camera. Tom reminded me to put on an orange vest because it was the first day of bow season. I pulled the material over my sweatshirt, grabbed my sturdy stick, and started walking. The trusty wooden staff kept steady rhythm while I cleared my head. I was looking for color.

The previous weekend I visited my mom. We were talking about autumn and the outdoors. She said, “I do wonder what ever happened to your dad’s walking stick.”

The wooden staff had been gifted to my father years ago, chosen thoughtfully for him by one of my brothers and sister-in-law.

“I have dad’s walking stick,” I reminded mom. “You or he gave it to me when we moved into our home, I think, back in 2010.” The year of my first steps through cancer. “I use it every time I walk in the woods.”

Mom smiled. “Oooh that makes me so happy to know one of you kids has the walking stick, and that you use it. I’m so glad!”

Dad passed away in August 2012 shortly after his 80th birthday and just before my second cancer diagnosis in October 2012. I thought about him a lot after the conversation with mom. God entrusted dad with a musical gift that wound down through his family tree and branched deep into ours. Melody flowed freely from dad’s fingertips on a guitar. Maybe that was how he cleared his head and found the color.

On October 1, 2022, the forest was dressed richly in greens, greys, yellows, and orange. Black tree trunks. Brown branches. Clumps of red way up high where tree top foliage burned red with fiery brilliance on the way down to winter. Deer tracks in the dirt. Gratitude in my soul.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your steady presence in my life, and for filling our world with your color.

My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.

Psalm 57:7