'Tis the back-to-school season

My kids played with some friends in a creek last week, soaking in a cooler yet somehow still muggy August morning. It wasn't warm enough to swim, so they found other water for entertainment.

I was walking slower behind them as they took off for the creek and looked up to notice a patch of red on a big tree full of green leaves.

It looked like someone spray painted it. Apparently splotchy, early leaf changes are normal for whatever kind of tree that is, but it seemed like that tree was for me. Like God knew I needed a reminder that seasons are good for our souls. 

And, truly, they seem to come fast, but, really, they are gradual. With seasons come opportunities to become more of who we're created to be.
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My daughter will walk into first grade tomorrow and my son will take his seat {hopefully!} just down the hall in a preschool classroom tomorrow morning. It's not totally new. Cate will be just a room down from when she spent her kindergarten days and Ben went two mornings each week last school year to another preschool program we loved.

But here we are. Year #2 of full-time school for one of my kids and part-time for the other. Yes, that means I have a few mornings a week without kids. People mention this fact as if I'll be searching for something to do.

While I will have time to do different things when I don't have kids by my side, I have plenty of ideas of how I'll spend my Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. In fact, I have a mental list: finish the freelance assignments I have, possibly expand my freelance work, exercise regularly, develop better Bible study habits, continue managing two lake houses, and volunteer at their school. Of course, I could also catch up on laundry, clean my house, grocery shop, or clean out closets and drawers one by one.

And, really, in the big scheme of motherhood, and life, nine hours isn't that much.
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Where we'd send our kids to school was a big deal because, like so many other things in my life, it has turned out different than I expected. But better too. Choosing a school for our kids was part of a faith-building journey I've been on for awhile now. Ah, yes, seasons there too.

This summer I've learned more about taking life one day at a time, embracing adventures that come along unexpectedly, and choosing the present. It's still a process, but I've been more at peace because I've loosened my grip on life. I'm hoping that as we fall back into a school year routine, I don't truly fall back.

Seasons are good. They are how God created this world and our lives. I know this. I believe this. But, still, this summer passed to quickly and I sense the fall will be more of the fast-paced ways. I look at the calendar and see the year ending in a blink of an eye.

But holding on isn't the answer, really, even though it's my instinct. Seeing that patch of red leaves from a distance reminded me that seasons are natural. And beautiful.

When I stood under that tree, closer to my creek-splashing and rock-climbing kids and their friends, I saw other patches of red beginning. Seasons are full of details worth noticing. Perhaps I need to stop mourning summer with my head looking down and raise my eyes up and forward and all around.

This is life. There is beauty right here that wouldn't come if seasons didn't change.

So, here's to new classrooms, new teachers, new habits, new schedules, new friends, new opportunities, and new lessons that point us to the One who really does have the whole world in His hands.
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I'm linking up with sweet Jen's Soli Deo Gloria party. And with Crystal Stine's Behind the Scenes. Who would have thought a picture of a tree with a patch of red leaves would spark so many thoughts! {Edited on 8.14.13 to also link this post with Jennifer Dukes Lee's #TellHisStory.}

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