a time to weep

"He who does not weep, does not see."

-Les Miserables

Something to think about in the seasons when

"there is a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance

{Ecclesiastes 3:4}"

--

B

hallelujah

"Hallelujah," by Kate Voegele--

"...and love is not a victory march

it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah..."

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

Psalm 51:17

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us..."

1 John 3:16

Love,

B

Beauty in the Broken

"Even in the crashing down

I can hear redemption calling"

-'Everything is Beautiful,' by Starfield {from the album Beauty in the Broken}

"I feel destruction running hard through my veins

but I see redemption rushing my way"

-'Castaway,' by Chasen

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

Romans 3:23-24

Broken and loved-

B

Ready

I will be the first to tell you that I do not believe in rebirth or multiple lives or any of that rubbish. But there are certain days that awaken something magical in me; days that make me feel nostalgic and reminiscent, as if I am remembering a perfect {or at the very least, a particularly comfortable} moment in a past life. A specific smell or a perfectly placed breeze can instantly rouse one of those feelings making me blink and wonder if it is simply deja vu or something more. Memories are a funny thing for me. I don't have an abundance of them, so the ones I do have are precious. And sometimes these moments aren't so much memories as they are feelings. Happy or sad; full of joy or full of despair; hopeful or regretful.

"But I say give me regret, as long as I can keep the good memories too."

-One Tree Hill

"Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has yet to come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering."

-Ida Scott Taylor

Fall tends to bring with it more than it's share of these bittersweet feelings, and the start to this fall season has been no different. The crispness of the air brings with it so many promising feelings and the changing leaves are more romantic to me than any swirling snowflake. Maybe it is the reality that although summer is at an end, something new and exciting is right around the corner. Something full of beauty and enchantment. To me, it is thrilling to watch a leaf change from a summery green to radiant orange, fiery red, or brilliant yellow. These past few days felt as though the Blue Ridge mountains decided to skip right over my beloved fall and welcome the dreaded winter, and my heart was saddened. But the cool, grey, rolling clouds and invigorating air today reminded me that autumn will not be forgotten so easily and it will show it's handsome face.

"He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.'"

Acts 1:7 (ESV)

I can't do anything about the past. And who can say what this new season will bring; it is not for me to decide or even to know. All I have to do is be ready. Ready for the the next chapter in my story. Ready for the adventure. So bring on the fall-- that beloved season and all that it chooses to bring with it's chilling winds.

I am ready for you.

B