Summer and Winter and Springtime and Harvest...

Everyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that I absolutely love summertime.  I love the sunshine, warm weather, relaxed schedule, extra playtime with the kids, and extra time for doing things that I can't do in the school year (like sew and read).  I'm most definitely a summer girl.

I have found over the years, though, that this love of summer produces a certain amount of dread and anxiety as fall and winter approach.  The days will be shorter, the sunshine won't be out as much, the schedule picks back up, and the responsibilities get heavier.  This year has been no exception.

Ah, but isn't it like the Lord to come in and bring truth in unexpected ways.  He spoke to my heart a couple of weeks ago to the point where I find myself anticipating the coming of fall like I never have before.  This may seem like a small thing, but it is a big hurdle in my own life and attitude.

I was at a prayer breakfast for homeschooling moms, and we sang a few songs together including "Great is Thy Faithfulness".  I have sung that hymn hundreds, maybe thousands of times.  We even sang it at our wedding.  I would say it is a personal favorite, but one verse popped out like it never has before.

"Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness,

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love."

As I was singing, it hit me...

Summer and harvest both proclaim the faithfulness of God.

Summer AND harvest AND winter?

And not just proclaim, but join with ALL nature.  I had to let it sink in for a few minutes.

Could even my beloved summertime flowers, gardens, and sunshine be joined by leaves, cold weather, and snow in proclaiming the goodness of my God?  And joined in manifold witness?

Manifold.  Many fold.

                    A thousand-fold?

                                         A million-fold?

Manifold.

Witness to what?

To Thy GREAT faithfulness.

And enduring mercy.

And everlasting love.

To most people, this may not seem like much of a realization, and it's something I've known mentally for a long time, but what about my fickle, frail heart?  It's not always so quick to follow the truth that I know in my head.  I don't notice the "joining in manifold witness" as quickly as I notice the shorter days, cold weather, dead grass, and gray sky.

The truth that changes the looming drab into a buffet of anticipation and color is knowing that I'm heading into an autumn where God IS and where He will most definitely be praised.

How like my Lord to sing His truth over me once again-- to redirect my heart and mind to His glory in every time, every season, every change.

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided...

...even when the thing needed is the grace-filled truth that helps a summer girl say hello to autumn.

Great is Thy faithfulness...
 again,
 and again,
 and again.