This morning I rose early and stumbled down the stairs with one eye opened, groggy but happy to be up to enjoy the day. My hubby and I went out for sushi last evening with friends, and then we stopped by our neighbors’ house on the way home for a glass of wine and a catch up conversation as they had been out-of-town for a few days. I was so wound up after the fun evening I couldn’t sleep until 2 AM. Well, 6 AM came early.

It is so unfair that my husband falls into bed at night and is asleep in about two seconds, and it takes me two hours sometimes…

I have never been a late night person, and I snap awake early each morning no matter how little sleep I have had the night before. Sometimes, it is a great trait and other times how I wish to be able to sleep in. Sometimes just an extra hour or two makes so much difference in the day.

When I opened the front door this morning, it was already hot for the day. Texas has had a record-breaking heat wave with triple digits for days on end now. Today it will be 105 F! Still, with the oncoming heat of the day, I felt a sense of shifting in the season. It is still early in the month of August, but I felt that first feeling of fall.

Maybe it was something in the air or the way the shadows fell in the yard from the trees and plants… something almost unidentifiable, undefinable. But it comforted my soul. That vague feeling that I know the weather will change. The season will cool down and bring the harvest and joys of new months. My heart leaped with expectation.

I am sure farmers, vine dressers, mountaineers, etc. who live by the outdoors and depend on weather conditions are much keener than I am to note the signs of the changing of seasons. These senses are developed over the years and through experiences. And they bring joy to their hearts as well for new days and fruitfulness.

Fall is my favorite season. I grew accustomed to distinct seasons in Colorado as a child, and I have never quite gotten used to the two season lifestyle that Texas affords: hot and hotter. Even with the reduced sense of season here, there is a shift that takes place, especially from hot, hot summer to less hot fall and on into December.

Change is what makes life unboring, and I love the change of seasons. Fall in Texas will bring scarlet leaves to the ornamental pear trees and red oaks. It will bring mums and pumpkins, and finally hot chocolate, fires and winter reading. That sounds so inviting on this day of 105 degree weather!

The Jewish Holy Days are before us as well as Sukkot and Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah. We are going for the gusto and embracing them all! Fall will bring a trip to Israel for the High Holy Days, close friends even closer. I am ready for the celebrations to begin.

I guess the reason I don’t mind a shift in the seasons is that my life is anchored in one who does not shift. He remains the same — even if the weather stayed scorching hot until kingdom come. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That stability is what gives my own life stability.

I am hitching my wagon to the Bright and Morning Star, who changes not. The ride to the next realm is full of change, and I am going to need his constancy.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ~James 1:17